Las Cruces man says someone else voted in his name; county clerk calls it a clerical error

UPDATE: Sam Infante has informed ABC-7 that he was handed a provisional ballot and was able to vote. He added that he was informed by the County Clerk's office that the other vote should be removed in a couple of days.

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- A Las Cruces man told ABC-7 that someone else used his name and address to vote days before Tuesday's election.

20-year-old Sam Infante said when he went out to vote Tuesday morning, he was told that his voter information showed he has already voted four days earlier in Sunland Park, somewhere Infante said he hadn't been in two weeks.

Infante said he went to a polling place on the Southeast side of Las Cruces to receive a provisional ballot, which the National Conference of State Legislatures describes as a fail-safe for voters who's eligibility is uncertain. Infante told ABC-7 he has yet to receive a provisional ballot with just hours before the polls close.

“All they require is a name and address. That is too easy. Anyone can do that. You can vote for all your friends that aren’t going to vote because all they require is a name and an address. Why not another verification of this is this person and this is who they say they are?" said Infante.

The Doña Ana County Clerk, Amanda Lopez Askin called it an unfortunate clerical error made by a poll worker who checked him in erroneously during early voting.

Asking says the the voter was offered a provisional ballot.

"Please note that this is an isolated incident and not systemic.  We take all reports of any irregularities very seriously and will do our due diligence to gather information and report those to our District Attorney for full investigation," said Askin.