This was in the RISKS list digest I got on the weekend (the paragraph in [] at the end is from the submitter:
Date: Fri, 22 May 2009 9:27:05 PDT From: "Peter G. Neumann" <[email protected]> Subject: NY voter voted absentee, then died; ballot ruled invalid [Source: Tiebreaking Vote Cast by Dead Man; Runoff Required, AP item, PGN-ed. Thanks to Joseph Lorenzo Hall for spotting this one.] http://www.1010wins.com/Tiebreaking-Vote-Cast-by-Dead-Man--Runoff-Required/4443153 OGDENSBURG, N.Y. (AP) -- A school board election ended in a tie after an absentee ballot from one candidate's dead brother-in-law was ruled invalid. Vicky Peo and John Wilson each received 388 votes Tuesday for a seat on the Ogdensburg City School Board. The tying tally came after an absentee ballot from Peo's brother-in-law, Franklin "Peanut'' Bouchey, was ruled invalid because he died three days before the election. Superintendent Timothy Vernsey said the ruling was based on both education and election law. Vernsey says a special election pitting Wilson against Peo must now be held. [This is one of those cases that might fall through different cracks in different places. If this voter had opted for in-person early voting, his actual completed ballot was supposedly not attributable to him, and could not have been individually revoked. We know that in-person voting and absentee voting generally have different RISKS. In this case they might also have had different RULINGS -- especially the ambiguity of a one-vote margin under these circumstances might have caused a partisan judge to demand a revote anyway. Besides, dead people have been voting for many years -- unfortunately, it seems to be an old tradition. And in some voting technologies, one-vote margins are statistically a virtual tie anyway. PGN] ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
