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Why can't dead people vote?

The idea

Graduate Poster
T
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
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In other words, why can't an executor vote, in accordance with the voting intentions expressed in a will, on behalf of someone who was illegally killed?

Imagine that an election is expected to be very close. Someone kills a hundred people who were known to support party X. The killer could confess after the election and go to prison or be executed. Would punishing the killer change the results? Suppose party Y wins by 50 votes. If the killer is merely a militant supporter of party Y, but not actually encouraged or assisted by party Y, then did party Y win the election fair and square?
 
Hutch said:
In Chicago the dead have voted for many years.....
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Many dead people vote in Australian Elections too, often more than once because dead people don't care about the fines....

I know of one keep supporter of a party who would spend time every day between elections writing down details from death notices and then go to every polling booth in the electorate voting for these dear departed....Dead people are supposed to be removed from the voting rolls but when there is a death in the family removing them from the rolls is often not high on the families to do lists.


vote early, vote often :)
 
Civilized societies accord dead people the right to vote all the time, in a manner of speaking. It's called "tradition", and as G. K. Chesterton astutely observed, it's arguably the most democratic of institutions:
I have never been able to understand where people got the idea that democracy was in some way opposed to tradition. It is obvious that tradition is only democracy extended through time. It is trusting to a consensus of common human voices rather than to some isolated or arbitrary record. ...

Tradition may be defined as an extension of the franchise. Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about. All democrats object to men being disqualified by the accident of birth; tradition objects to their being disqualified by the accident of death. Democracy tells us not to neglect a good man's opinion, even if he is our groom; tradition asks us not to neglect a good man's opinion, even if he is our father. I, at any rate, cannot separate the two ideas of democracy and tradition; it seems evident to me that they are the same idea. We will have the dead at our councils. The ancient Greeks voted by stones; these shall vote by tombstones. It is all quite regular and official, for most tombstones, like most ballot papers, are marked with a cross.
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Is there a specific regulation or law which say they cannot vote? Please provide a reference for it if so. Thank you.
 
Well if they can own property (i.e. inheritance) then I can’t see why they shouldn’t be able to vote as well.
 
Darat said:
Well if they can own property (i.e. inheritance) then I can’t see why they shouldn’t be able to vote as well.
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Minors, felons and corporations can own property, but we don't let them vote either. (Then again, corporations can just go out and buy other people's votes.)
 
ceo_esq said:
Minors, felons and corporations can own property, but we don't let them vote either. (Then again, corporations can just go out and buy other people's votes.)
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In the UK one of the political parties is suggesting that we should allow imprisoned criminals the vote and given the rising level of imprisonment in the UK that could alter the "tough on crime" stance by politicians in some areas!
 
Don't know about other states but C.R.S. 1-8-304(3) and 1-9-208 explain what to do about absentee and provisional ballots.

To count or not to count an absentee ballot cast by some one who later dies (pre election) has always been a big point of disagreement between election officials.

We used to ask "What if an elector votes his/her ballot and dies before they reach the ballot box? Do we put it in or not?" Large counties wanted to go ahead and count it, small counties that have close races did not want it counted.

What about an elector who Early Votes and then dies before election day? There is no way to go through ballots and pull the one they cast.

My county always figured that if at the time of completing the ballot and filling out the affidavit the person was an eligible voter we counted it.

My two cents.
 
Darat said:
Well if they can own property (i.e. inheritance) then I can’t see why they shouldn’t be able to vote as well.
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Dead people don't own property. Their estates own their property. Estates don't have the franchise, at least not in this country.
 
BPSCG said:
Dead people don't own property. Their estates own their property. Estates don't have the franchise, at least not in this country.
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"That's vitalism, that is." Reg Shoe - Fresh Start Club
 
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