I was actually wondering about this, since a close relative of mine probably won’t make it to election day: if you legally cast your ballot (mail in or absentee), but die before Election Day, does your vote still count?
this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2024
1122 points (98.1% liked)
Uplifting News
11195 readers
1083 users here now
Welcome to /c/UpliftingNews, a dedicated space where optimism and positivity converge to bring you the most heartening and inspiring stories from around the world. We strive to curate and share content that lights up your day, invigorates your spirit, and inspires you to spread positivity in your own way. This is a sanctuary for those seeking a break from the incessant negativity often found in today's news cycle. From acts of everyday kindness to large-scale philanthropic efforts, from individual achievements to community triumphs, we bring you news that gives hope, fosters empathy, and strengthens the belief in humanity's capacity for good.
Here in /c/UpliftingNews, we uphold the values of respect, empathy, and inclusivity, fostering a supportive and vibrant community. We encourage you to share your positive news, comment, engage in uplifting conversations, and find solace in the goodness that exists around us. We are more than a news-sharing platform; we are a community built on the power of positivity and the collective desire for a more hopeful world. Remember, your small acts of kindness can be someone else's big ray of hope. Be part of the positivity revolution; share, uplift, inspire!
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Yea. Not only that, when you hear about "dead people voting", this is often the explanation.
Also the thousands of people who die on election day, a non-zero number of which voted earlier that day.
The other big chunk is people who have the same or a similar name. Like "It says here David Jones died five years ago, but David Jones voted today. Suspicious?" "Dude, I'm David Jones Jr. The David Jones who died was my dad, David Jones Sr. Dick." Or whatever.
I am a IIIrd, the third person down my male line with the same first, middle, and last name
I'm the 5th with our exact initials, too
One time, while applying for college, I was told I'd already used my GI bill allotment back in '55. Uh..... That was grandpa, and he died over 30 years before I was born, how did you mix us up?!?!
(Also, I was never in the military and this was entirely irrelevant to me they just brought it up as something I couldn't do)
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
Depends on the state. Looks like Carter is registered in Georgia. According to an article from 2020 when Republicans were bald face lying that long dead people were voting a lot, someone from the Georgia Secretary of State's office is quoted as saying secrecy rules don't allow rejecting a ballot when a voter dies before Election Day.
“You can’t go back and get that ballot back out. It’s just physically impossible, given the privacy rules in our state,”. May or may not still be accurate, or may have never been accurate, but that's what the first article I found when searching says.
That makes a lot of sense, thanks!
Depends on the state. Georgia, where Carter lives, is silent on the issue so it should count. Some state explicitly allow counting them, some states explicitly forbid counting. Some states are silent on the issue.
Once the ballot is cast, there's no way to pull it out. If you could, that would violate the secrecy of the ballot. They would be able to know who anyone voted for.
Ignore me, sounds like he’s probably right
~~I really don’t think this is true, ballots get pulled out all the time if they’re found to be invalid. If there’s an issue with how it’s filled out, like bubbling multiple entries or signature issues, stuff like that, if there’s an issue with their registration or the incredibly rare instances of actual voter fraud, all those ballots get pulled out unless they get corrected.
I guess I can kinda see your point about how if an individual ballot gets challenged and removed, and you see the overall vote count change by one you’d obviously know who that ballot was cast for. But in order for that to happen it would have to be an invalid ballot, so I’m not sure it’s really that important to keep a vote that didn’t count secret. Also in this particular case the person’s dead.
I’m certainly not advocating a law like this be passed, and maybe there’s some federal policy that would prevent it from being enforced, but logistically speaking I don’t see the problem.~~
Afaik in most democracies, ballots are verified as from being legit people, then anonimised , then checked for being valid (not spoilt ballots) then processed to see what they voted for.
During counting you can remove a ballot for being spoilt but not due to its caster being dead.
Interesting, that makes sense. I thought I’d heard about individual ballots being challenged in all the 2020 bs, but I just looked it up and it looks like ballots can only be challenged before they’re counted, which matches with what you just said. So probably what I’d heard is either challenges that came in before that point, or it was republican nonsense that was presumably shot down.
But yeah, verifying -> anonymizing -> counting and they can’t go backwards makes a lot of sense, and that would fundamentally prevent removing dead people. Thanks for explaining
it looks like ballots can only be challenged before they’re counted, which matches with what you just said.
I mean, in the US specifically, and everywhere else, they can be disregarded for not being valid during the counting process, see :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_(paper)#2000_United_States_presidential_election_controversy
or, if you're more degenerate:
https://balatrogame.fandom.com/wiki/Hanging_Chad_(Joker)
EDIT : thank you for being polite, you're welcome for my explaination.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)
Early voting is voting.
No president is perfect. Some are much worse or much better than others. The US would greatly benefit from having more Jimmy Carters as president.
His failure was not including Washington insiders into his cabinet. It's the lesson that people often forget. The president can't be a total outsider and expect to be successful.
I could see that being an issue for sure. But I will still say that falls well short of the things some other president's have done.
Remember when there was a crisis at a nuclear power plant, and the president rushed to the scene...to help, because he's a qualified nuclear engineer? I don't, I wasn't born yet when that happened.
I wasn't either. But when I heard the story I wished we would have another president who cared like that.
load more comments
(4 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(2 replies)
And it’s a Georgia vote so it matters.
All votes matter.
All votes should matter. Thanks to gerrymandering and the electoral college rules, not a lot actually do
Specifically for president. They absolutely matter for local elections.
Yes, but some much more than others.
the electoral college used by slave states to pad their votes with the 3/5ths compromise would like to have a word with you.
Not according to the electoral college.
load more comments
(3 replies)
What a lifetime this man has experienced.
And if he dies before the election, they will accuse him of voter fraud.
Diane Feinstein and Mitch McConnell both served in Congress well after they died.
Wait, Mitch McConnell is dead?
Did he ever live?
load more comments
(1 replies)
It would've been funny if immediately after casting his vote he dissolved into a beautiful light
He disappears in a flash of light. In his wake, he leaves an affordable housing complex behind.
Also, a lifetime supply of peanuts to all residents who aren't allergic 🥜
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
Congrats Lt. Carter and some of us will be voting next week too.
My absentee ballot finally came this week. I'm so excited to get my vote in and be done with all of this nonsense.
You'll be even more excited when the 2028 campaign starts in three weeks!
view more: next ›