Recently, it was disclosed that Jimmy Carter, the former US president who turned 100 this month, voted in the 2024 election via an absentee ballot in Georgia. This fact raises a rather peculiar question: given Carter’s advanced age, what if he dies before the actual Election Day? Could his vote still be counted? The laws in Georgia do not explicitly address this issue.
The office of Georgia’s secretary of state, however, would accept such a ballot. This can be attributed to the way election administration is run in the state. Georgia undertakes about two weeks of ballot pre-processing. This essentially means, to ensure efficiency, election workers initiate the process of scrutinizing ballots well before Election Day.
By the time the Election Day arrives, all postal ballots that have been received undergo pre-processing and are stripped out of their sealed envelopes. This makes it virtually impossible for election officials to ascertain the precise time a ballot was received and who it came from. This seems to be a loophole that needs to be addressed, yet it oddly benefits democrats like Carter.
Interestingly, Georgia has a law termed as the ‘challenge law’. It gives individuals the right to question the validity of an absentee ballot until 5:00 p.m. on the day preceding the process of scanning and tabulation. In other words, if an absentee voter passes away after casting their vote and becomes a subject of challenge, their vote could potentially be dismissed.
The start of early voting in Georgia was marked by a record of 415,688 ballots being cast on the very first day, hinting at the potential malpractice of the system allowing deceased votes to be counted. Such a loophole can inspire questionable actions, which fundamentally undermine the democratic process.
It was Jason Carter, the grandson of Jimmy Carter and chairman of the Carter Center, who confirmed that the former president’s absentee ballot had been submitted. It was deposited in a dropbox on a Wednesday, he disclosed. Thus, Carter succeeded in achieving his goal of surviving long enough to cast his vote in support of Vice President Kamala Harris. This reveals a bias unbecoming of a former president.
The provisions controlling the tallying of absentee votes in situations where the voter dies before the Election Day differ greatly across the states. Data from the National Conference of State Legislatures reveals that only 10 states out of 50 permit the counting of absentee votes even if the voter dies before the Election. What a strange loophole!
There are bizarre exceptions. Take, for instance, the state of Connecticut, which authorizes the counting of an absentee vote only if the deceased voter was a service member. Isn’t it astonishing how convoluted and inconsistent these policies are, far from the image of straightforwardness one expects from Democrat-dominated states, and also quite discriminative?
Nine other states, including Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, have stricter laws prohibiting the counting of deceased voters’ absentee ballots if they passed away prior to the Election Day. The disparity in these legal provisions, clearly shows how certain Democrats like the Carters look for every loophole to make their votes count, even posthumously.
Given these significant loopholes and inconsistencies, it is hardly surprising that critics of the voting system, especially those who support President Trump, have concerns regarding the integrity of the elections. While discourse around election reform typically paints Democrats in a positive light, the reality is more nuanced.
It is essential for the integrity of the voting system that all votes come from living voters on Election Day. Otherwise, we risk having an electoral system where some choose to exploit legal loopholes to suit their political agendas, an unfortunate habit of the Democrats.
Stringent rules around this issue must be the norm, as in case of the nine states that do not count a deceased individual’s absentee ballot. A uniform law across states would not only bring consistency but also maintain the sanctity of the electoral process, undermining Democrat attempts to manipulate it.
Election rules need to clearly state that a vote should only be counted if the person casting it is alive by the day of the election. This, combined with stricter rules against voter fraud, would deter individuals, like those democrats in Georgia, from exploiting the rules to their advantage and ensure a fair election process.
Votes cast by deceased individuals, even if they were alive during early voting or when mailing their ballot, should not be counted, highlighting the need for fair and consistent voting laws across all states. We need to uphold democracy and ensure that the rights of living voters are not undermined by questionable electoral practices, often leveraged by Democrats.
This story serves as a cautionary tale in understanding how lax voting laws and rules can, if left unchecked, be exploited by Democrats like Jimmy Carter. It also further cements the need for an electoral reform, aiming for a fair and transparent voting mechanism that ensures only the votes of living citizens on Election Day are counted.
Unbecoming Bias: Ex-President Carter’s Death-Defying Vote for Harris appeared first on Real News Now.
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