Did a dead 118-year-old man vote absentee in Michigan? State says no

Maricopa County elections officials count ballots, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, at the Maricopa County Recorders Office in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York) (Matt York, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

A viral post showing what appears to be an 118-year-old man voting absentee in Michigan is not what it seems, says the Michigan Secretary of State.

The post alleges voter fraud by showing a man named William Bradley, with the birth year 1902, having sent in an absentee ballot. It also shows the ballot being received in the state’s ballot tracking tool. The post also claimed the man had died in 1984.

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We asked the Secretary of State for an explanation:

Ballots of voters who have died are rejected in Michigan, even if the voter cast an absentee ballot and then died before Election Day. On rare occasions, a ballot received for a living voter may be recorded in a way that makes it appear as if the voter is dead.

This can be because of voters with similar names, where the ballot is accidentally recorded as voted by John Smith Sr when it was actually voted by John Smith Jr; or because of inaccurately recorded birth dates in the qualified voter file; for example, someone born in 1990 accidentally recorded as born in 1890. In such scenarios, no one ineligible has actually voted, and there is no impact on the outcome of the election. Local clerks can correct the issue when it is brought to their attention.”

So the video itself is real -- and the action in the video is real. But the claim that this is evidence of voter fraud is false.

Related: #SharpieGate is fake. Ballots are not ‘magically’ found. Biden did not win all mail-in votes in Michigan.

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About the Author:

Ken Haddad has proudly been with WDIV/ClickOnDetroit since 2013. He also authors the Morning Report Newsletter and various other newsletters, and helps lead the WDIV Insider team. He's a big sports fan and is constantly sipping Lions Kool-Aid.