By james art 
One of the biggest problems that can shake people’s confidence in the democratic process is when invalid voters and dead people get ballots. This comes up every election cycle and 2024 is no different.
Virginia was at the forefront as they are in the midst of an ongoing legal battle in the US Supreme Court to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls. Even here in Washington, a Bellevue woman just got ballots for 16 different people in the mail.
Even more disturbing, however, is when a dead person receives the ballot. how does this happen
Why do dead people get ballots in Washington elections?
“The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH reached out to both the Snohomish and King County auditors’ offices to find out why this is happening, how they know if a voter has died and what is done if one of these ballots is returned .
When a bulletin is sent to someone who has died, it is usually because the person’s information was filed before the county was notified of their death. The county also often learns of the death of a family member. But not surprisingly, it’s not always a family member’s top priority to update this immediately.
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In the event a family member fails to notify, the county also checks with agencies such as the Social Security Administration, the United States Postal Service, the Washington State Department of Licensing and the Washington State Department of Health. Snohomish County said they even do daily reviews of obituaries in the newspaper.
If a ballot happens to be sent to someone before the county knows of their death, then it will be marked and left for further consideration if it is returned.
What if a dead voter’s ballot is returned?
The primary safety net against any potentially fraudulent ballot is signature verification.
Washington law requires that the signature match what is on the voter register for that ballot to be counted. So if someone else signs up for a dead voter’s vote, it will be challenged immediately.
A ballot with a signature that does not match and is dated after the voter’s death will be investigated by the county attorney for potential criminal charges. King County investigated 17 suspected cases in 2020 from more than 1.2 million returned ballots.
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So are the people receiving the ballots suggesting that there is widespread cheating and fraud? Unlikely, but the greater concern is that these types of errors understandably cast doubt on the integrity of our elections. It is the duty of all of us to demand transparency among our local election officials and that they prosecute all violators to the full extent of the law.
Jackson Meyer is a producer on The Jason Rantz Show.
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