Triple voter faces questioning
All 3 absentee ballots returned to county in the same envelope
By Robert Behre
At least one man voted early — and often — in Charleston County, and he soon could be talking with the Solicitor's Office about what he described as an innocent mistake.
Harry J. Tolley II, who now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., asked to have an absentee ballot mailed to him from Charleston County, election officials said. He later made the same request two other times, they said.
Tolley then filled out all three ballots and dropped them in the mail — on the same day.
"We got them back the same date," Charleston County Elections and Voter Registration Director Marilyn Bowers said. "He wasn't even smart about it."
Tolley said Thursday he had no intention to cast multiple votes. He said he sent all three ballots in the same envelope.
"I asked for one, they sent me three," he said. "My thoughts were they sent me three, they must have had a reason for doing so."
Tolley, 29, said he never had voted absentee before and wasn't trying to commit fraud. "I've never broken any laws. That's not really my thing. I certainly wouldn't try to vote more than once," he said.
None of his votes have been counted so far, and all three will be presented to the Charleston County Board of Canvassers when it meets today to certify the results. No other voter submitted more than one absentee ballot, Bowers said.
"We'll probably turn it over to the Solicitor's Office," she added.
While it's legal to send in multiple voter registration forms, it's a no-no to vote more than once.
Charleston County GOP Chairwoman Lin Bennett said she hopes the Solicitor's Office does get involved.
"If we don't do that, they'll think they can do it again," she said.
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theronce (anonymous) says...
What you want to bet that he voted at least once in Brooklyn.
November 7, 2008 at 7:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jca (anonymous) says...
quite possible theronce
im sure they will check too.
you would think there would be a system in place of some sort to catch multiple requests and to make sure only one ballot went out
makes me wonder how many other people requested absentee ballots and then showed up at the polls and voted.
November 7, 2008 at 7:54 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
NativeSon (anonymous) says...
We tried to have a solution and gov sanford shot it down fast! It is called "National ID card".
November 7, 2008 at 8:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cwmcpa (anonymous) says...
Let's see I either admit that I am stupid and did not know that I could not vote three times or admit that I committed fraud. If we are to accept the stupid premise it would be interesting to know what party he voted for. If it was fraud the party is evident.
November 7, 2008 at 8:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
amylrod (anonymous) says...
If we really knew how many fraudulent votes were actually cast around the country for Obama, those who live by the laws would still be civil without setting fires, overturning cars, attacking others, burning effigies...but I don't think we will ever know because the ball is in the other court and it will all be swept under the carpet.
November 7, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Tides (anonymous) says...
I read a story from a Kansas reporter, 400,000 illegal voter registrations in that one state alone were found. Many had the same name and address up to 3 or 4 times. Other names the person was not even alive. ACORN and Obama fraud at it's best.
Imagine all states with high numbers of ILLEGAL voting like this.
Obama barely won the popular vote. I think the election was illegal stolen because of ACORN. After all, so much to gain from it. Once in office, with control of the federal government, nothing is done to bring all the voter corruption to justice.
November 7, 2008 at 9:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjhamilton3 (anonymous) says...
A national system of universal registration would end all these problems. A huge amount of money and effort went into voter registration by both parties which might have gone into communicating about the issues. I registered 150 people myself and it was a lot of work.
No one can still believe we actually have any secrets from the FBI or Homeland Security. We just don't have an efficient way for state and local governments to know who lives where and who is a citizen and entitled to vote. Most of Europe has national registration. It's cheap and efficient. You register at 18 and when you move. If local government needs a list of who is over 70, lives in an area and needs to be evacuated before a Hurricane, they can get that list.
With such a system, it's easy to be sure everyone can vote and vote just once. We can check now, but it takes time and is very inefficient. Americans move around a lot and having driver's licenses, naturalization papers, passports and voter registration that is completely uncoordinated doesn't make any sense.
November 7, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
poor_paul (anonymous) says...
I think we need to start prosecuting all those dead people who voted in Ohio. That will teach them a lesson.
What makes me sick is how partisan the news networks were in the election. I understand that most of them are liberals, but don't they have an obligation to provide impartial news reporting?
November 7, 2008 at 9:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
coolfreaknbeans (anonymous) says...
This guy is an idiot on many levels. If I requested a form of any kind and they sent me three, I would call to inquire why. Theronce- I bet you are absolutely right! I wish I had a way to find out if my registered 3 yr old neice in OH voted
November 7, 2008 at 10:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
usna04 (anonymous) says...
I'm betting this guys is just stupid. If he was trying to commit fraud, would he really think he two little extra votes would really make a difference?
November 7, 2008 at 12:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
wjhamilton3 (anonymous) says...
If he had tried to call, he would probably have gotten a busy signal. The Election Commission phones where badly overloaded most of the time before the election. I send in multiple copies of things to the government all the time: one to file, one to send back to me stamped another for something else. We had to file multiple copies of documents to get our passports. Its perfectly normal.
November 7, 2008 at 1:35 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Whopper (anonymous) says...
Gee wiz -- some are sure Obama cheated because how else could a black man win. LOL. There are some real wackos on here. I guess the uneducated and paranoid come in all colors.
November 7, 2008 at 2:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MP (anonymous) says...
Early - he didn't send them back in the same envelope, and, no, he knew exactly what he was doing and that it was illegal.
November 7, 2008 at 3:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
waterfordboi (anonymous) says...
To Cswoman... Obama got elected because he got the most votes. Its simply mathematics dear. It had nothing to do with cheating, scheming, or any other unfavorable means you can ponder. Why must is be that something wrong had to be done in order for an African-American to become president? The gentleman spoken of clearly stated that he only sent in three absentee ballots because he received three. Due to the fact that the ballots were not counted, they had no effect on the results of the election. Furthermore majority of those who voted for President-elect Obama were of the caucasian persuasion. Are you accusing them of multiple votes and devious means as well? Last thing to correct you...it's 40 acres and a mule sweetheart,however due to inflation, interest, and other associated penalties we decided to settle for 50 states and a white house.
November 7, 2008 at 6:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
disappointed (anonymous) says...
Clearly, this voter was not trying to pull one over on anyone. What type of person would send back 3 ballots in the same envelope? I suspect one who was operating on little guidance from his electoral board.
Let's focus on the real problem at hand here, the system failed the individual. Do not deflect attention from the one's responsible for conducting the election -- distribution of the ballots is their responsibility.
On this point, I want to sidebar with the POST AND COURIER, why don't you focus on the fact that this man was SENT three ballots?
November 7, 2008 at 7:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MP (anonymous) says...
Early, put down your elementary school reading primer and read the article again. It says:
"Tolley then filled out all three ballots and dropped them in the mail - on the same day.
"We got them back the same date," Charleston County Elections and Voter Registration Director Marilyn Bowers said. "He wasn't even smart about it."
They did not say they came in the same env4elope, they said the ballots came in the same day. The idiot said he mailed them all in the same envelope. What do you expect him to claim. Do me a favor. Go to Youtube. Do a search for "Dee Dee Dee song" and listen to it. Like the song says, its about you.
November 7, 2008 at 8:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
disappointed (anonymous) says...
MP -
I hate to point out the obvious but read the sub headline
"All 3 absentee ballots returned to county in the same envelope"
November 8, 2008 at 12:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
blah_blah_blah (anonymous) says...
i'm glad i don't live in your country.
in my country, people are innocent until proven guilty.
November 8, 2008 at 9:07 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
blah_blah_blah (anonymous) says...
cswoman
dad from africa, mom from america
pretty much sums up african american, you condescending low life...sweetie.
from a twenty something white male.
November 8, 2008 at 2:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realintheus (anonymous) says...
It sounds like this guy did nothing wrong. I would imagine if the wanted to commit fraud he would have sent everything in seperate envelopes. To everyone who didn't see it on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, Barak Obama won and there are breakdowns to show you how.
November 9, 2008 at 3 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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