Better Dead than Red?
Via the Beeb, writing about a county board election in South Dakota:
Marie Steichen, who died of cancer in September, beat a Republican rival by 100 votes to 64 and became a county commissioner posthumously.
The election list closed on 1 August, but Ms Steichen’s name was kept on the list for Tuesday’s election.
Voters knew she was dead but wanted to make a point, a local official said.
“They just had a chance to make a change, and we respect their opinion,” Jerauld County Auditor Cindy Peterson told the Associated Press news agency.
Ms. Steichen’s victory increments the counter of Republicans vanquished by deceased opponents, the best known example likely being John Ashcroft, defeated by the deceased Mel Carnahan (D) in a 2000 senatorial contest.
[Comments now turned on. My bad. cw]
I love voting for dead people. They’re so much less likely to cause trouble.