Candidates for NC Senate District 7 respond to double voting article

Donna Lake (left) and Sen. Jim Perry (r) during recent Neuse News interviews.

The News & Observer released a report that questioned why a North Carolina Senate candidate voted twice in an election year. In 2008, State Senate candidate Donna Lake participated in early voting in North Carolina, and a ballot was cast in her name in her home state of New York.

“I served my country in dangerous conflicts around the globe and earned two bronze stars for my service,” said Donna Lake, Democratic Nominee for Senate District 7. “To even suggest that I would dishonor my country or my oath is a shameless attack by a desperate politician who is avoiding talking about his own record about his record—because he is desperate to keep people from knowing exactly how he and his colleagues have left eastern NC behind.”

According to the article, until Lake was purged from New York’s voter rolls in 2013, she was registered to vote in both states. The article also stated that a Suffolk County Board of Elections staffer said they don’t keep original signatures after four years. Lake’s campaign said without that signature, it can’t be verified she voted in person that day.

“All I know is that vote fraud has occurred,” said Republican Sen. Jim Perry (Lenoir/Wayne), Lake’s opponent. “I can’t tell you she is ‘Double Voting Donna’ and if I understand the law correctly, it’s a felony to cast two ballots in an election. I believe it’s also a felony to fill out with the voter registration form fraudulently. Being that I’m unsure of the legal issues she’s currently facing, I want to limit my comments.”

Both North Carolina and New York prohibit voting twice in the same election and the Voting Rights Act’s prohibits “voting more than once.” 52 U.S.C. § 10307(e).

“The New York records which reflect that I voted in person in New York in 1992 and 2008 are inaccurate,” said Lake.