A Dillon woman says when she went to vote, she found out someone had already voted for her by absentee ballot.
Willie Ruth Rowland says she's pretty vigilant when it comes to important documents. That's why she was stunned Tuesday, when she was directed to two different precincts and then told she had already voted. "I said, 'No, I didn't.' I didn't vote the first time and I didn't vote the second time."
Rowland went to the Dillon County Voter Registration Office and they told her the same thing. Workers even showed her the absentee ballot with her signature.
They compared the signature on it to the ones on Rowland's license, voter registration card and library card. "Neither 3 matched signatures to the one on the absentee vote," Rowland said.
So, she headed straight to the Dillon County Sheriff's Office to file a report. Her complaint landed on the desk of Chief Deputy Larry Abraham. "We're doing an on-going investigation. We're working with voter registration going through some absentee ballots."
They're going over 10 to 20 absentee ballots that were dropped off at the voter registration office along with Rowland's. All of the ballots were brought in and witnessed by one woman.
Police aren't releasing her name just yet.
Chief Abraham says there are some questionable ballots that could affect the Dillon County Probate Judge race. Just 18 votes separate the two candidates. "We're taking it seriously because we believe everybody vote should count, and it should as that individual's not somebody else voting for that individual," said Chief Abraham.
Rowland couldn't agree more. "I've done my best to open up let people see what's going on behind closed doors."
State police may be called into help investigate.
