New York residents are hitting the polls…dead or alive.
On the eve of the election, records show that ballots have been mailed in to the New York City Board of Elections in the name of voters no longer with us, according to the New York Post.
The board received an absentee ballot from Frances Reckhow – and declared it valid – on October 8, according to tracking records. Reckhow, a registered Democrat of Staten Island requested the ballot on September 24.
But, there’s one major problem: Frances Reckhow, born on July 6, 1915, died in 2012, according to an obituary in with the Staten Advance.
Today, she would have been 105 years old.
Her daughter, Carol Huben, is a registered Republican residing at the same address as the late Frances, according to records via the Post, but has not responded for comment.
A second absentee ballot was mailed from a Gertrude Nizzere, also a registered Democrat, who was born on February 7, 1919 and would be 101 today.
Records show that someone requested an absentee ballot in Gertrude’s name in September, mailed the ballot on October 9, the board received it on October 13 and declared it valid on October 25.
But, after further review, the agency declared the Nizzere ballot received as “invalid” because a search found the voter was deceased.
The Staten Island Republican party, which is keeping a close eye on absentee ballot counting, flagged the two records and is demanding an investigation by the police and Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon’s office, the Post reports.
The 11th congressional seat race between first-term Democratic Rep. Max Rose and Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis is expected to be extremely tight.
“People should be on the alert for dead people voting,” Staten Island GOP chairman Brendan Lantry said. “There are people using the names of dead voters to cast ballots.”
“I believe this is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Landry. “We’re requesting that the NYPD and the Staten Island District Attorney’s office investigate.”
Voting in the name of a deceased person – relative, friend or otherwise – is a form of voter fraud and has resulted in prosecutions, including recently on Long Island, where a voter was accused of forging his dead mom’s name on an absentee ballot, according to the Post.
And while election day is tomorrow, the absentee ballots in New York don’t get counted for another six days, allowing for endless possibilities of fraudulent activity.