an unworthy thought

[calimac]

Janet Reno died.

I hope she voted early.

Comments

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

If someone votes early, and then dies before election day, shouldn't their vote be discounted? The election is a vote of the electorate as of that specific day; letting people vote ahead of time is intended as a convenience, originally for people who couldn't get to the polls on election day, not as a redefinition of who is in the electorate. I don't suppose there is a mechanism for discarding such ballots, but perhaps there ought to be.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

That depends on where you are. Laws cover that. Since early voting and absentee voting are allowed only for a specific period, redefinition of the electorate is not infinitely flexible, and the law in Florida, where Reno lived, specifically allows this: "The ballot of an elector who casts an absentee ballot shall be counted even if the elector dies on or before Election Day."

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

Well, it seems like a bad policy to me, but if it's done in a regular way as prescribed by law, and within limits, that seems at worst a tolerable option. I'm not dead sure that harm is done by extending the period of decision; I just mistrust it intuitively—and having studied mathematics gave me an appreciation of the gap between intuition and proof. My intuition could be misleading me in this case.

[irontongue.livejournal.com]

I did not attempt to obtain a ballot for my mom....who died in March. THAT would have been fraud.