Our Own Candidates

Who is our audience?

Here at Patient Voting, we focus on two main groups:

1. Patients hospitalized in the weeks and days prior to the election, who are anticipated to be still hospitalized on Election Day,

2. People who were discharged from the hospital in the days prior to the election, whose acute illness may still prevent them from being able to travel to the polls on election day

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Below we focus on the process for hospitalized patients.

Screening

Who is eligible?

Patients who are admitted to the hospital in the weeks and days prior to the election, who are likely to be still hospitalized on Election Day, are good candidates for Patient Voting.

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To be eligible to vote by emergency absentee ballot, patients must be registered voters. Step one is to verify the patients status as a registered voter at Vote.org/ or various state-specific websites (available on each state's information page if applicable). 

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There are various programs to increase voter registration among emergency room patients, including https://vot-er.org/

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VOTE RIDERS: 

Make sure to check if your state requires a Voter ID. HERE is our link to our digital cards for all 50 states. For Spanish click HERE. You can also get your Voter ID questions answered through this link: https://www.messenger.com/t/VoteRiders. If you are requesting a mail in ballot and your state requires you to send a copy of your voter ID but do not have access to a printer, you can send a picture to VoterID@voteriders.org and we will mail you two hard copies. For up-to-date information and help with voter ID you can also call/text VoteRiders: 844-338-8743 or visit voteriders.org.

Consent

Are patients or families interested?

Just like any other medical procedure, it is important to ask patients and their family members if they would be interested in Patient Voting.

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In some states (AL, AZ, CA, CO, DE, HI, KY, LA, MD, MI, MS, MI, NE, NH, NJ, NY, NC, ND, OR, PA, RI, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA, WY), family members of hospitalized patients are also able to vote by Emergency Absentee Ballot. 

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Team members can admitted patients and their family members either in the emergency department or on in-patient floors to ask if they would be interested in receiving information about voting while hospitalized. We respect "no" as answer: being admitted to the hospital with an acute illness or condition may be overwhelming and leave little time to think of other things. 

Information

How can we empower patients and their family members?

If the answer is "yes" (and we hope it is!), our team provides the patient and their family information on state-specific instructions on voting processes, links to this site, and contact information for in-hosptial staff who can assist them with obtaining and returning the application and ballot to the Board of Elections.

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Check out What We Provide for free printable resources for patients. 

Coordination

How can we make the process easier?

In many states, successful voting by Emergency Absentee Ballot requires several trips to and from the election office in order to deliver the application, pick up the ballot, then deliver the ballot. We encourage patients to their support system (family and friends) to serve as this authorized messenger. However, where appropriate, we can work with your health care system to identify who in your team can serve as authorized messengers.