Are mail ballots sent in the name of dead people common?
According to a working paper from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, mail-in ballots submitted on behalf of dead people constitute an extremely rare form of ballot fraud. Of 4.5 million voter records in Washington state, the study found only 14 cases where a ballot "may have been stolen and submitted on behalf of someone who had died," either fraudulently or due to clerical error.
The 1993 National Voter Registration Act requires states to conduct reasonable maintenance to remove deceased voters from their rolls. In most states, officials receive deceased voter information from state health departments.
The 2002 Help America Vote Act requires state registration rolls to list each eligible voter uniquely, and to use death and felony conviction records to remove ineligible voters.
