Aftenposten Norway, German claims to have voted in US election

A bureaucratic mix-up after getting a US drivers license while studying in South Carolina has gotten out of hand for a young German man. First he was told that was registed with the US military, then he received an absentee ballot for the 2004 presidential election.

'I tried to get out of it,' he said. Now studying in Oslo, the German citizen with a German passport wishes to remain anonymous, fearing reprisals from US authorities.

While studying in South Carolina in 1997 the man got a US driving license. Recently, while on a trip to the USA, he took the opportunity to renew his license and was told he was on military lists.

To clear up the misunderstanding he took his German passport and visa to the immigration office but was told that this didn't prove that he wasn't an American citizen - in fact, they assumed he must be one to be on the lists.

The German was then advised to register to vote - the system would then reveal that he was not on citizenship lists and the case would be solved. He asked for his vote to be sent to Europe, and expected the matter to end there.

But the absentee ballot arrived in the post and the German decided to vote for John Kerry. This may have been a big mistake.

'When they have me registered in the military then I should be able to vote,' he said.

---