MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The push for people to get out and vote has been strong this election season, but for those who are hospitalized leading up to the election, voting is not as simple. Tuesday was the first day of hospitalized voting in Wisconsin, starting just one week before election day.
“We should never let a hospitalization such as early labor or getting into a car accident just before an election, we should never have that prevent us from having our voices heard,” said Vote-ER Executive Director Aliya Bhatia.
Vote-ER is a nonpartisan non-profit organization that develops resources to educate hospitalized voters on how to make their vote count without leaving their hospital room. Bhatia said that the organization was created because of an interaction the founder had with a hospital patient around election time.
“One of her patients actually asked to be discharged prematurely to go to the polls and she was like ‘there has got to be a better way to be able to provide care to this patient and make sure that they can have their voices heard’,” Bhatia said.
The process is not exactly simple, but it is possible. Multiple parties are involved to get the ballot to and from the hospital.
“If a patient was hoping to vote and they are hospitalized within 7 days of the actual election day, we provide them the forms that they will need in order to vote,” said Meriter Hospital Director of Patient Experience Amy Garza.
Garza explained that patients can tell their healthcare professional that they would like to fill out a Hospitalized Absentee Ballot Request. If the patient is not registered to vote, they can complete that form at the same time as their request.
The next step involves having a chosen representative, Garza said that person can be a friend, family member, neighbor, or anyone the patient trusts. This person is referred to as an “agent”.
“The most important part is that our patients to secure a representative, so somebody that they trust and know who is willing to do a couple of trips for them to their county clerks office,” said Garza.
When the Hospitalized Absentee Ballot Request is completed, the agent will provide their information in box 7 on the form. The agent is then expected to deliver the request form and the patient’s photo ID or a copy of the patient’s photo ID to the municipal clerk for the patient’s municipality of residence.
The agent will present all documents, including their own photo ID, to the municipal clerk who will give the agent the absentee ballot.
“The Wisconsin Elections Commission has actually updated and streamlined their patient voting information and its directly available on their website,” said Bhatia.
The agent will then bring the ballot to the hospitalized individual and can ask as a witness when they complete it. The agent must return the completed, signed and sealed ballot to the same municipal clerk’s office by 8 p.m. on election day.
“If you’ve got somebody who doesn’t have anybody who can run the ballot back and forth for them, within Dane County the Dane Country League of Women Voters will take on that role,” said League of Women Voters of Dane County Member Gail Bliss.
Bliss said that league members will volunteer from now until Monday in Dane County to act as agents for patients who do not have someone to act on their belief.
“We’ve got two on-call volunteers for each of the available days, and we’ve got the helpline number out there,” said Bliss.
The League of Women Voters of Dane County helpline can be reached at (608) 285 2141 for any assistance needed in order to vote. Bliss said to leave a detailed message to be connected with a volunteer.
“I think it’s wonderful that there are so many community groups that are trying to make voting more accessible for everybody,” said Garza. “I think this is just a special population who doesn’t anticipate being here, so as planful as you can be as a person, you don’t usually plan on being hospitalized.”
Garza said that these resources are extremely important, and she has witnessed patient’s desire to vote, first hand.
“I have seen a want and desire to still want to participate in any election and right to vote I think that it is something that people hold important to them and certainly regardless of who will they are there are people who certainly want to exercise their right to vote,” Garza said.
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