Seniors Head to the Polls on Election Day, With Assistance

Posted on | November 1, 2009 | No Comments

Often referred to as the largest block of reliable voters, seniors will head to the polls tomorrow for municipal elections in several U.S. cities and gubernatorial and state legislature elections in Virginia and New Jersey. Senior living providers often play a major role in helping residents access the polls, with many communities serving as polling places.

“As seniors move out of their homes and into senior living communities, the desire for civic engagement generally does not fade,” says Micah Intermill, ALFA’s director of advocacy. “But sometimes a new residential setting can create obstacles, such as the inability to locate or get to a new polling place. Recognizing this, many states have passed laws permitting assisted living communities to serve as polling places.”

A recent report, conducted by the Government Accountability Office at the request of several U.S. senators, says the Department of Justice should do more to ensure that seniors and disabled individuals have voting access. The report is based on a nationwide survey on Election Day last year to determine whether states had met the goals for voter access laid out in the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. According to a release from the GAO, “the report shows that strides have been made over the last few years, but in some areas of the country, barriers still remain for elderly and disabled individuals. For example, 46 percent of polling places surveyed in the report had voting systems technical considered ‘accessible,’ but that could still pose problems for people in wheelchairs.”

Intermill wrote an article for Assisted Living Executive leading up to last year’s presidential election, “Supporting Election Day Efforts,” which also addresses facilitating voting for senior living staff.

See Wikipedia’s summary of where elections are taking place tomorrow.

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