STATESBORO — Double voting may become a major problem in the upcoming presidential election in the State of Georgia since about 1,000 Georgians did just that in the primary elections, according to the Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Tuesday.

Double voting is when voters mail in absentee ballots and go in person to the polls to vote. This is a rare case and is considered a felony in the state of Georgia.

“A double-voter knows exactly what they’re doing, diluting the votes of each and every voter that follows the law,” Raffensperger said during a press conference at the state Capitol. “Those that make the choice to game the system are breaking the law. And as secretary of state, I will not tolerate it.”

Calie Peterson, a junior political science major from Georgia Southern, is skeptical.

“I do not think a lot of people will double vote in the upcoming election. I think it is a very small problem used to further voter suppression,” said Peterson.

Peterson explained in a previous research she did about Voter ID laws and Jim Crow Laws, she learned voter suppression played a large role.

“Throughout my research, a lot of scholarly articles claimed that voter fraud, in the US, is not very common. Especially after seeing the measures taken after the primaries, I doubt people will double vote on purpose,” said Peterson.

To avoid double voting, the voter can verify that the ballot was received and check the status of it on the Georgia My Voter Page. There you can check if your ballot was received and accepted or rejected.

After logging on, look for the Absentee Ballot Information Request box on the website.If the absentee ballot was rejected the voter can contact the county registrar to find out why.

“Experts have said all year that increases in voting by mail that are expected as a result of the coronavirus disaster would contribute to more mistakes by voters,” according to National Public Radio.