ALBANY — State pols want to count the votes of the dead — but only for members of the military who are killed in combat.
The Assembly this week passed a bill to require the counting of absentee ballots cast by active duty service members who die in combat before the election.
“Our servicemen and women make tremendous sacrifices serving our country every day and as such are entitled to have their votes counted while they are putting their lives on the line defending our nation,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan).
Bill proponents say the legislation would close a loophole in current laws, which are aimed at preventing voter fraud by prohibiting the counting of absentee ballots of voters who die before the election.
In the case of service members killed in combat, “there is no incentive or propensity for fraud,” bill sponsor Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn) says in a memo supporting his legislation. His office was unable to say how often the votes of dead soldiers are discarded.
The bill has no sponsor in the state Senate.