>> What, are faithless elector laws going to force an elector to vote for a dead person? <<
It all depends on how the law is written in each individual state. And the U.S. Constitution is silent on such matters. So yes, a law theoretically could be written to force a vote for a dead candidate.
But that’s beside the point. The main feature to remember is that there definitely is some kind of “legal status” for the name on the ballot, when the state in question has something like a “faithless elector” law.
This discussion had a narrow context though, Hillary becoming unavailable. Faithless elector laws aim to adhere the elector to the party's choice.