Voter told she was dead, almost turned away

Shirley Johnson: ‘Well how did I die? Who said?'

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While most of the 93,553 people who voted Tuesday cast ballots without a hitch, one Jacksonville woman got the shock of her life when she went to her precinct.

Shirley Johnson went to the Victory Celebration Church on New Berlin Road around 6:30 Tuesday. Excited that there were no lines, she thought that everything would run smoothly and she would be able to cast her vote and make it home in time for dinner.

Unfortunately that's not what happened and Johnson said she almost didn't even get to vote.

Johnson showed poll workers her voter registration card, showing that she'd been registered to vote in Duval County since 1992, at which point a poll worker took her aside and told her that their system said she was dead.

Johnson has voted in every election since she got her card and though there have been some hiccups along the way, nothing like this she said.

"She came in and she said, "It's just going to be a few minutes. They told me it'd take 15 or 20 more minutes. But they're going to try to put you in the system." I asked, "Well how did I die? Who said?" She said, "Someone had to call." I said, "Well, isn't this official records? Who could say something like that?" And she said, "Well, someone had to let them know that."

Johnson was eventually able to vote, just before the polls closed, but still has no idea how the system got this so wrong.

She plans on filing a complaint with the Supervisor of Elections office as soon as possible.
 


About the Author:

Ashley Harding joined the Channel 4 news team in March 2013. She reports for and anchors The Morning Show.