CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) -
The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections has launched an investigation after a man, who lives alone, claims someone else is using his address to vote.
Shawncey Frederick moved into his Walnut Street home almost 20 years ago, and is concerned that he keeps getting election mail with someone else's name on it.
"I have no clue who this lady is," he said.
Frederick says for almost 10 years, he's been getting voter registration cards made out to a Margaret Elizabeth Sherrill. He showed WBTV one from 2009 and another from 2012.
"I consider it a legal document. I wouldn't want something being applied to my address that shouldn't be applied to it," he said.
We took Frederick's concerns to Michael Dickerson, the head of the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections. Dickerson calls the situation "rare."
"I would have loved it if he (Frederick) had put it back in the mail and said not at this address, and it allows us to start the inactive procedure," Dickerson said.
Dickerson says "inactive" is a term used for voters who have most likely moved or died. Records show out of around 650,000 registered voters in Mecklenburg County, about 75,000 are inactive.
"It might not be a misprint. it might be that somebody had registered at that address or gave that address when they registered," Dickerson said.
Dickerson searched Mecklenburg County records and found out that the Margaret Elizabeth Sherrill, registered to vote at Shawncey Frederick's home, was born in 1928. Dickerson says records show she has not voted since 2004. He says it's likely she left the state or died.
WBTV spoke to a Margaret Elizabeth Sherrill who lives in Iredell County, but she was not born in 1928 and has never lived in Charlotte or even heard of Walnut Street
Dickerson says at this point, there is no fraud, but that could change if someone uses Sherrill's name to vote, with Shawncey Frederick's address. He says if you receive a registration card in the mail with your address and someone else's name, just send it back. His department will investigate.
For more information: http://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/BOE/Pages/default.aspx
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