A man spent his election day in a failed attempt to cast his ballot by first learning his new address wasn’t on file at a polling location in Bismarck then crisscrossing the state to his old voting location in Dickinson at the suggestion of poll workers. Kyle Thiel, of Bismarck, is one of a handful of voters who reported being turned away from the polls Tuesday when his updated address information wasn’t found in the state’s central voter file. Thiel, 32, explained Thursday via email that he moved to Bismarck in August from Dickinson. On Aug. 25, he updated his address online through the North Dakota Department of Transportation website as directed on the back of his driver’s license. Although he’d updated his information online, Thiel said his license still had his Dickinson address on it. He said he hadn’t found the time to go get a new license, something he acknowledged would have helped. When Thiel went to vote in Bismarck, local election workers couldn’t find his updated address information in the system. After being directed to the DOT office for verification, he was told that information couldn’t be accessed.
Thiel said he went back to the polling location to explain what happened and was directed to travel to Dickinson to vote. “I asked if I was indeed supposed to travel 200 miles round trip to Dickinson, vote where I am not a legal resident and commit voter fraud. I was told yes,” Thiel said.
Thiel traveled to Dickinson and was told he couldn’t vote because he was no longer a resident there. He contacted the Secretary of State’s office on Wednesday and was told his address change had been confirmed by the DOT and he should have been allowed to vote in Bismarck.
Full Article: Determined voter derailed after driving 200 miles.