Louisiana bill would let dead voters' absentee ballots stand

AP ^ | January 17, 2003

[Shermy]

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana - In a state infamous for political chicanery it has become a well-worn joke: Even the dead can vote in Louisiana.

The new punchline: Soon, it may even be legal — at least in a few rare cases.

A Louisiana law in effect at least since 1921 says if a person casts an absentee ballot, then dies before election day, the vote doesn't count.

State Sen. Reggie Dupre says that isn't fair.

"If someone casts a ballot, whether at the polls or absentee, their vote should count," he said Thursday. After all, he added, if someone has a heart attack walking out of the voting booth on election day, that vote counts.

The big problem, says Dupre, is that the law is only enforced if election officials recognize the name on the absentee ballot and know that the voter has died.

That happened last fall in Terrebonne Parish in southeastern Louisiana. Election officials there came across the ballot envelope signed by former Parish President Teddy Duhe, who had died of a heart attack two days after voting.

Local officials knew about Duhe's death, so they canceled his vote. Then they wrote Dupre to say it wasn't fair because there was no way of knowing if other dead people's ballots had gotten past them.

Fair or not, laws invalidating dead people's legitimately cast absentee ballots are common around the country, said Kay Albowicz, spokeswoman for the National Association of Secretaries of State.

What's unusual is a proposal to repeal such a law. "This is a first — the idea of somebody who's deceased getting to have their vote counted prior to Election Day," Albowicz said.

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[sticker]

Isn't the dead a major part of the democRAT base?

[Free the USA]

fyi

[DeFault User]

Can't you just see a new Victims group emerging from the DNC?

The Repirationally Challenged

Tom Dasshole: "Many have been voting DemocRat for years. Along comes some necrophobic Republicans who want to take their rights away. It's obscene."

[Phantom Lord]

I don't know. I am leaning toward allowing the persons vote to be counted. A large number of our military vote absentee, and well in advance of election day. Should their vote be thrown out because they died in the line of duty prior to election day and after casting their vote? I say no.

The real problem is the dead who not only vote absentee AFTER they have died, but also the dead who vote at the polling place on election day!

[afraidfortherepublic]

That's one of the reasons I believe in absentee voting. Unless you are in Floriduh, your vote counts, no matter what!

[Shermy]

But isn't this unfair to dead people who intended to vote the more usual way, not absentee?

< /morbid argument>

[FreeTally]

I don't think I have a problem with this.

[Blood of Tyrants]

In most Rat controlled areas, you don't even have to be alive to cast a vote.

[StormEye]

"Louisiana bill would let dead voters' absentee ballots stand"

If the ballot was legitimately cast in the legal time frame for
that particular election, then the vote should count.

[Brian Allen]

<< "Louisiana bill would let dead voters' absentee ballots stand"

If the ballot was "legitimately cast in the legal time frame for that particular election," [sic] then the vote should count. >>

Are you kidding?

Just what part of ELECTION DAY are you having difficulty with?

The votes of people who have DIED before ELECTION DAY should count?

Why the next thing you know you'll be advocating that dead people should be ELECTED, too!

Whoops! Too late! The damned dims [Despite that the Law, in that instance, limited election eligibility to people LIVING in the State of Missouri] already did that one too.

Liberalism is a mental illness!

[wimpycat]

I agree. If the ballot was cast before they died, then they have voted, and the vote should count. But I think probably the postmark on the ballot should be before the date of death.

[goldstategop]

The upside is the Rats will no longer have to commit vote fraud to win an election in the Pelican State. All they simply have to do is register the dead to vote - and who is going to check on their intent? The possibilities are endless here and next we'll have cadavers in office and a precedent was already set with the late Mel Carnahan!

[TYVets]

In 2000 Voting places were kept open late for the dead.
I apolize, that was in Missouri, not Louisiana... of course that happened in heavily demorat wards!

[Types_with_Fist]

I'm not sure why this is such a big issue in Louisiana. Several governors and senators and many local politicians there have been elected by people who have been dead for years. Standard practice.

Today's News

[Phantom Lord]

I'll go with your idea that the post mark determine its validity.

[Phantom Lord]

And the polls were kept open in St. Louis in 2000 becuse 2 men filed suit to keep them open because they were having trouble voting. And just who were these two men???

An unregistered voter and a DEAD MAN!

I love posting the story at DU and undeniable facts that a dead man and an unregistered voter were the ones who kept the polls open for dems to commit fraud. I get banned every time.

[kms61]

So what's the Clerk of Court supposed to do on election day, call each and every person who cast an absentee ballot and say, "hey, you didn't die did you?"

This bill is just common sense.

[Brian Allen]

<< This bill is just common sense. >>

In Louisiana and in "DemocRATic" potty circles, maybe.

For the rest of US it just confirms the abject Evil of liberalism.