Electoral Nullification: The Reasons Behind Voting for a Dead Candidate

Voting for a candidate that is no longer alive at the time of election may be considered a wasted vote. Nevertheless, there are instances in which such a vote means to overcome the legal limitations and choose how to be represented. This article aims to illustrate how such a behavior can be calculated when citizens vote for a dead candidate to nullify an electoral law that they consider unfair. This is driven by what we call electoral process nulli fi cation, which is the political equivalent of jury nulli fi cation. We use evidence from the local elections organized in September 2020 in a Romanian commune of approximately 3,000 inhabitants. A dead candidate won the elections with 64% of the votes. Our results draw on semi-structured interviews with people who voted for that candidate. section presents the data and method with emphasis on the case selected for analysis and respondents ’ pro fi le. The fourth section covers the central arguments of the article and the evidence brought to support it. The conclusions summarize the key fi ndings and discuss the main implications for the broader fi eld of elections and representation.