Here’s an interesting question. If someone dies in the time between casting a mail-in/absentee ballot and election day, should their vote count?
The daughter of one woman whose vote in the South Dakota primary was barred after she died feels it should:
“It’s just a goofy law, and it needs to be changed,” said Krause.
I think it is a bit overstated to call it goofy. There is a very rational argument that people who are dead shouldn’t have their vote counted, no matter how close to the election they make it. Yet, the time-frame is important as we move increasingly to broad voting periods that end with election day. In a sense, it is no more valid to deny a legally submitted absentee vote because the voter dies by election day than it would be to deny a vote cast the morning of election day because the person died later in the day.
Plus, the interest of those casting the vote to have it counted is so much more important than the interest of those seeking to deny the vote. The number of people who will die between casting a vote and the end of an election is so tiny as to not have any impact on the election. For one, people on their deathbed probably do not have high turnout. I’d be willing to say that never in the past and never in the future would the allowance or denial of the vote in this instance change the outcome of any election.
As it stands, for states that have rules in place, there is a pretty even split between allowing and not allowing the votes. I would assume those that don’t have rules in place allow the votes. I certainly feel it is appropriate to count the vote.
