ATLANTA (AP) – You hear it all the time in an election year – especially when a presidency is at stake – make sure you register to vote.

For one Atlanta family, the effort took a strange turn. Ron Tims says when he checked his mail last week, he found a voter registration addressed to Cody Tims.

Cody is his cat.

Make that his cat that died 12 years ago.

The Timses were surprised and amused – but Georgia elections officials say it’s no laughing matter.

They say the application didn’t come from their office – and third-party groups often use mailing lists to find people who might need to register.

Elections officials say even if Cody were alive and was able to get to the polls, he couldn’t vote, because cat’s don’t have a license or state ID.

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