HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — A woman in North Carolina said she went to go vote but was not allowed to do so because she was listed as dead.
“When I went up to give the woman my information she looked up and said, ‘You’re ineligible to vote,’ and I said, ‘I can’t imagine why,'” said Maryann Leonard. “She said, ‘Let me find out.’ Then she told me, ‘It says you’re dead.'”
Maryann Leonard and her husband Pat Leonard have voted in every election since they moved to High Point, North Carolina almost four decades ago. Every two years they vote early at the Deep River Recreation Center but this year, she was not listed as a registered voter.
“She was just flabbergasted by the fact that she was off the roll,” Pat Leonard said.
She was furious, confused and worried.
“Oh my goodness. This is a year when so much is going on. So much has happened and so many people have died,” Maryann Leonard said.
“The thought of possible voter fraud popped into my mind,” her husband said.
After several calls to the county and state boards of election, the Leonards found out a clerical error caused the mix-up.
The state sent a list of people who passed away to Guilford County and there happens to be a woman with a similar name and birthday to Maryann Leonard.
“It’s just a warning to people to be cautious,” Pat Leonard said.
“If you’re mailing in your vote you would never know this,” she said.
Pat Leonard told NewsNation affiliate WGHP he and his wife will be sure to look up their registration next time and encourage others to do the same.
“You don’t want to go on Election Day and find out that you’re not eligible for election,” he said.