ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. — The Rockingham County Election Director, Paula Seamster, is dispelling rumors about receiving fake ballots, ballots going missing, and the board of elections office being broken into or left unlocked.
She wants all voters to know it's all not true.
"There is no way, at the Rockingham County Board of Elections office, that there is any fake voting, any absentee voting going on that we're not aware of, there are no ballots being put in our voting machines illegally, we have someone with our DS-200 machine at all times," said Seamster. "All this misinformation that is being put out in the field is not legitimate."
Seamster said the amount of calls is more than the office received during the primaries.
"It's just rampant, I mean just all different kinds of calls that we're getting," said Seamster. "We haven't been able to do other things because we're getting these telephone calls."
Seamster said there are many security features in place to ensure each vote is counted.
Each person has to give their name and date of birth. Once verified, voters sign an application that ensures they are who they say they are.
Seamster said voters then get a ballot to vote, and after circling the candidates the voter wants, the voter goes over to the DS-200 machine, which is monitored by a pole worker at all times.
Voters will then see the machine accept the vote. If something is wrong with the ballot, like it being fake, she said the machine would reject it because it didn't match the application filled out at the start.
Early voters out at the polls Tuesday said they saw the machine accept their vote.
"He said, slide your ballot in here and we will wait for the confirmation, i feel a 100 percent that it's accurate," said early voter, Susan Kallam. "I heard the rumors too, but i had no issues and no problems."
"When I put it in the number went up, so I know it's in there," said early voter, Robbie Citty. "It's a small town, I know everybody in there, so they're all honorable people, so yeah, I feel a 100 percent confident that my vote got counted."
As for the buildings being broken into, Seamster said she would be aware of a security breach and she routinely check voter numbers to prove the numbers line up.
There are also security systems at each polling location to ensure no break ins happen.
Voters hope the rumors don't discourage people from voting.
"Get out and vote and make sure your voice is being heard," said Robbie Citty.
If you're concerned your vote wasn't counted, you can go to the North Carolina Board of Elections website, here, the morning after voting.
Once you're on the website, click voter search, type the information, and it will show you voted under your voter information. It will be different if you put in an absentee ballot, but you can track it from the same website once your information pops up.