voting for the dead subverts not helps democracy.
If the Democrats were smart, they could have a write-in campaign for their candidate of choice. Or they could let the Repub try for 2 years, it not like it will give them the plague ... but they are not, which is why they'd fall for the 'vote the dead in' ploy - too lazy to do it right in one election, so they waste one.
by itself, it is not a big deal, but what REEKS is the stench of political opportunism and grandstanding from those who lied before the primary election about her true status. She was unfit to serve well before the sept 21 primary. There WAS a Democrat primary opponent, but the "powers" didnt want that. So they lied and pretended she would get better even though she was terminally ill and probably in a coma by that time.
You illustration is nonsense because FDR couldn't qualify in the first place. Mink wasn't dead or incapacitated when she was placed on the ballot. Who gets onto a ballot and who remains on a ballot are state issues. Most states limit changes to ballots within a certain time period before the election. In this case, the Democrats would be stupid to start a write in campaign. Mink is going to win anyway, dead or alive, so they might as well use the election to prevent the GOP from winning, however slim that is, and then win the special election. Is it political? Sure it is. But it's legal and if the GOP was in the same position they would use the same strategy. They would be stupid to do otherwise.