ATLANTA — The State Election Board has found probable cause against Georgia voters accused of voting twice in the 2008 presidential election.
State Investigates Double Voting
On Thursday, the board voted unanimously to forward cases against Thomas Habel, of Hartwell, and William Harrison Davis, of Thomasville, to the attorney general's office for a recommendation of fines or criminal prosecution.
An attorney representing a third voter, Romulo Alvarado, of Valdosta, requested his case be continued until the next meeting.
"You're basically stealing another person's vote and that's something that I won't stand for," said Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
Director of Investigations Chris Harvey presented the case to the board, saying all three of the men live in Georgia but had another residence in Florida.
"In each case, the person had been registered in Georgia, went to Florida and registered to vote, returned to Georgia and voted in the 2008 election early voting, then went to Florida and voted a second time," said Harvey.
In 2008, Channel 2 investigative reporter Jodie Fleischer teamed up with reporters in Florida and Ohio to compare the master voter rolls and early voting records. She found more than 100,000 people who appeared to be registered in more than one state, 11 voters who received Georgia absentee ballots after they had already voted elsewhere, and the three men now accused of voting twice.
"I'm done, I've got a business to run," said Habel, when confronted outside his home in Marco Island, Fla. Records show he voted there on Oct. 25, 2008. He had already voted in Hartwell, Ga., on Oct. 1, 2008.
"Mr. Habel was shown on TV denying that he voted in Georgia. He did in fact vote and the registrar recognized him voting, and we have a voter certificate from Mr. Habel in Hart County," said Harvey.
Davis wrote the board a letter saying he thought he was allowed to vote twice, and the elections office would just cancel one of the votes.
"You either acted intentionally illegally, or you violated the law by casting a ballot because you're incompetent. Either way, what we know is you shouldn't be voting," said State Election Board Member Randy Evans.
WATCH ORIGINAL REPORT: Some Georgians Suspected Of Voting Twice
Now the attorney general's office can recommend fines or criminal prosecution for both men. Investigators said the Georgia votes would be considered legal, because they were cast first. The crime would be the second votes, which were all cast in Florida.
Florida and Ohio were both considered swing states in the 2008 presidential election. Several Georgia voters who were temporarily living in Florida and Ohio admitted they felt their vote would count more outside of Georgia.
"I'm not from here, I'm from Atlanta, so I re-registered in Ohio so we could possibly have a chance," admitted Lauren Arnone.
Arnone received her Cobb County ballot by mail, but vowed not to use it, even though she could have. "Something should be fixed about this because this can sway an election," said Arnone.
"Shocking, it's really shocking," said voter Kelley Johnson. "I wouldn't think to do something like that."
But the college student had an absentee ballot from DeKalb County, even though she voted in Daytona Beach, Fla.
"Two days after I voted, my absentee ballot came in the mail," said Johnson. "I was just shocked, it had my little sticker, ‘I'm a Georgia voter' on there."
At the time, Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel said, "You vote where you live. You don't get to pick and choose based on what is a battleground state, so that's very disturbing and we will be looking at every single name on that list."
There is still no way for states to compare their voter rolls or who voted, unless a specific case is opened. There is no federal database to track voter registration and no laws obligating voters to notify their old state when they register in a new one.
"We need to figure out a way where we have better data sharing, so that if an absentee ballot has been requested from any other state, we can then immediately check that," said Evans.
It's not illegal to be registered in two states or to request a ballot from two states. But voting twice is a felony.
"I've talked to people in the past year who have been in races where they've won by one vote or five votes and you start allowing just a few people to double vote it could manipulate an election," said Kemp.
WSBTV
