Honoring the Dead

Here's an interesting bit of trivia - Barack Obama's grandmother passed away on Nov 3, a day before the nationwide polls. However, she sent in an absentee ballot in Hawaii on Oct 27. Does this count?

ANSWER: YES!

Not all states allow "ghost votes". California, Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, and West Virginia are among those that do. USA Today made an interesting observation about "ghost voters" in 2004:

"Considering that an average of 455 voting-age people die in Florida every day, and that the 2000 presidential election was decided by a mere 537 votes, dead votes that slip through the cracks could become a meaningful bloc."