DUTCHESS COUNTY, New York — “I’m sorry sir, but you already voted.”

“No I didn’t,” 55-year-old Mike Miner told a Wappingers Falls election worker on Sunday — yet that’s not what election records showed.

Miner told The Federalist that he decided to vote early, just one day after early voting began on Saturday.

“I went up to the table and was told I already voted,” Miner said. “I ask, ‘Where did I vote?’ Because, of course, this is very surprising to me. And they told me I voted in the town of Fishkill [which is located next to Wappingers], 22 minutes after early voting began on Saturday.”

Miner was given an affidavit ballot, which is a provisional ballot that is secured inside an affidavit envelope. A bipartisan team at the Dutchess County Board of Elections investigated the situation and determined that since the signature provided Saturday did not match Miner’s actual signature, Miner’s affidavit ballot will count — but so will the fraudulent vote cast Saturday in Miner’s name. That’s because once a ballot is cast, the vote itself becomes anonymous, making it impossible to identify the fraudulent vote and remove it from the bunch. //

But Miner says it’s “ridiculous” that a system — which is supposedly “secure,” according to Haight — doesn’t require ID to vote, which could have prevented the fraudulent vote from being cast.

“You don’t have to show ID to vote, I think it’s ridiculous — anyone can walk in, just as what happened to me, and say ‘I’m so and so’ and vote. So I don’t believe the system is safe right now,” Miner said. “And I know I’m only one vote, but I have the right to vote and my vote should count. Someone shouldn’t steal your vote and that be able to count. I don’t know the outcome of that vote — what if it was opposite of what I voted? Then it cancels my vote out.”

But Miner’s situation could have been avoided if New York wanted to have an ounce of integrity in their elections. The Empire State is one of 14 states that do not require voters to show ID in order to vote.