A Michigan man had to show more than his ID to vote in this year's elections. A proof of his existence.
On Nov. 4, Dale Hopfinger headed to Lee Township Hall in Midland County to cast his vote like he's been doing since the past 10 years. But to his shock, he was told he couldn't.
The reason: he was dead. Or at least the records said so.
"Said, no he's deceased, so he can't vote," said Hopfinger, a patriot who believes it's his duty to cast a ballot every election.
But even with proof of his identification in hand, a Lee Township poll worker told him that township records stated that he had died on Sept. 25.
After a bit of persuasion, the 48-year-old convinced the township clerk that he was in fact alive, and officials finally allowed him to cast a ballot last week.
Following the incident, he reached out to the Social Security Administration Office for answers, who informed him that it had been a clerical error.
"The way she was saying was it was probably just a typing error on the Social Security Number is all it was, she's thinking, but like I say, I don't know, I don't know how to find out," Hopfinger told WNEM-TV.
In fact, he faced the same problem when he tried to co-sign a new car for his daughter. Citing his "assumed" death, the car dealers stopped him since it might hurt his credit score.
On Friday, Hopfinger is planning to meet with representatives at Bay City's Social Security office to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, The Associated Press left messages Thursday seeking comment from the Lee Township clerk.
