NEW YORK (Reuters) - About 46,000 people are registered to vote in two states, New York and Florida, a violation of both states' laws that could affect the outcome of the November presidential election, according to an investigation by the Daily News.
Many New Yorkers spend the winter months in sunny Florida, which played a pivotal role in the 2000 election after George W. Bush narrowly won the state in a contested ballot recount. Florida could be a crucial state in the November presidential election.
The New York tabloid examined computer records to ferret out duplicate registrations in New York City and Florida.
The Daily News said it could not provide an exact count of how many people vote in both places, because millions of names are purged between elections. But the newspaper found that between 400 and 1,000 registered voters voted twice in at least one election, a federal offense punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Of the 46,000 registered in both states, 68 percent are Democrats, 12 percent are Republicans and 16 percent didn't align themselves with a party, the newspaper reported on Sunday.
The duel registrations have gone undetected because election officials do not check voter rolls across state lines, the newspaper said.
"There's no extensive investigation normally on a voter registration form," Steven Richman, general counsel for the city Board of Elections, told the paper. "We accept it at its face value"