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Voting is a fundamental part of democracy, allowing citizens to shape their country’s future. However, efforts to restrict certain groups, including elderly nursing home patients, from voting are increasing. These individuals have years of wisdom and experience, yet they often face barriers when it comes to voting rights for nursing home residents. This article explores the controversy surrounding these restrictions and their broader implications.
Challenges for Nursing Home Residents
Nursing home residents have lived through significant historical events and understand our country and the issues at stake. However, they face logistical challenges like transportation to polling places and inadequate mail-in ballot facilitation. Virginia Nursing home attorney Jeffrey Downey underscores the injustice in limiting nursing home residents’ voting rights: “It makes no sense to limit or prevent our seniors in nursing homes from voting.”
The Republican Argument and Its Flaws
Some Republicans say some nursing home residents may suffer from dementia, questioning their capacity to vote.
The latest example comes from Wisconsin Senate candidate Eric Hovde, the Republican Party’s likely nominee for senate. In a radio interview this past week, Hovde seemed to suggest that senior citizens living in nursing homes are not qualified to vote — an idea that has roots in one of Donald Trump’s more outlandish claims about the 2020 election.
When discussing that election, Hovde turned to the subject of senior citizens: “Well, if you’re in a nursing home, you only have five, six months life expectancy,” he told host Guy Benson. “Almost nobody in a nursing home is in a point to vote. And you have children, adult children showing up that said, who voted for my 85- or 90-year-old father or mother?” Review the complete article below:
But Downey argues this is a mischaracterization of the facts. “The truly mentally incapacitated residents typically do not vote.” Voter fraud is exceedingly rare, with the Washington Post reporting only 31 credible allegations of voter impersonation out of over 1 billion votes cast between 2000 and 2014.
The Broader Implications of Voting Restrictions
With the Supreme Court’s weakening of the Voting Rights Act, conservative states have greater freedom to impose voting restrictions. Between January 1 and September 1, 2021, at least 19 states enacted 33 laws that make it harder to vote, disproportionately affecting minority groups, low-income individuals, and elderly nursing home residents.
Downey notes that these restrictions are part of a broader trend. “Now that the Supreme Court has pulled the teeth out of the Voting Rights Act, conservative states are free to put up roadblocks to voting as they did in the Jim Crow era.”
Focus on Improving Care, Not Limiting Rights
Instead of limiting voting rights, legislators should focus on improving the quality of care in nursing homes, where neglect and abuse are common. According to the National Council on Aging, 1 in 10 Americans aged 60 and older experience some form of elder abuse, with 5 million elders abused each year.
“Instead of limiting the rights of elders in nursing homes, states should focus on improving the quality of care,” Downey advises. “Long-term care is the weak link in our healthcare system—one that Republicans are loath to fix because the vast majority of long-term care elders in failing nursing homes are lower-income Medicaid patients.”
Conclusion
The right to vote is crucial, and efforts to restrict that right among vulnerable groups, like nursing home residents, undermine democracy’s principles. While some argue for restrictions to prevent fraud, evidence shows these claims are largely unfounded. Policymakers should prioritize improving care in nursing homes rather than limiting voting rights.
Contact Information
Law Office of Jeffrey J. Downey
8300 Greensboro Drive, Suite 500
Mclean, VA 22102
Phone: 703-564-7318
Fax: 703-556-7700
Email: jdowney@jeffdowney.com