Does a Dead Person's Vote Count?

by Christian Sinclair

(Note, this post was first written in 2008, links updated 2016, and again in 2024. Please confirm any data here by verifying with your own state voting guidelines - any help maintaining this post is appreciated! -Ed.)

During these feisty political times in the United States, it is important to remember that we should all go out and vote. But it is important to remember there are many people who can't get out to vote on Election Day or may have a short enough prognosis resulting in death before Election Day. Being engaged in the political process and fulfilling one's civic duty may be important roles to be fulfilled for dying patients.

Approximately 5,500 9,491 people die each day in the US and since many states have absentee voting systems in place as early as this week this could be a big impact. 38 days left until Election Day multiplied by 9,491 voters = 360,658 votes! Are hospice patients the new soccer moms?

Ensuring your patient can vote, if that is something they want to achieve before death, is an important function for hospice and palliative care staff. Here are some useful links and tips to consider:

• If you are going to get out the vote with hospice patients, you should ask universally, and not just the patients who have the same political signs in their yard as the bumper sticker on your car.
• If absentee voting is available in your state, pursue it now. Check your state's voting website.
• Know your state law for the validity of a dead person's absentee vote. Some states count an absentee vote from a deceased person if they died before election day, others do not. I have a partial list below, if you do find the answer for your state, please add it in the comments section with a link if possible to a source.
• Know if your state has early in-person voting if that is feasible for the patient.
• Voter fraud can be a felony charge, so if you think you might take advantage of this situation, don't do it.
• There is no formal test of competence in voting (insert political joke about elected representatives here), but there have been some research articles discussing this issue in people with dementia. Here is an updated 2022 article. (BOTH OPEN ACCESS)
• The issue for clearly incapacitated people (such as in the ICU, in a coma, PVS) is not clear. Can voting be a part of your advance directive? I don't think it has been tested in court. Yet.
• In many areas, those under guardianship may not vote. Please check your local laws to clarify.

If you have more questions, I will try to answer them the best I can, please post them in the comments. Many links below are outdated from the 2008 post The links were updated November 4th, 2024, so if you can find any information for your state, share below with links and we will update it. The primary source is the National Conference of State Legislatures.