by Fred Lucas As the Trump administration seeks to crack down on potential voter fraud in nursing homes, an election watchdog group is providing additional information to long-term care facilities, citing several past criminal cases involving political operatives and staff who took advantage of vulnerable elderly residents. A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services memo from late July cited two major cases in recent years, one out of Texas and another out of Wisconsin, involving elderly people being exploited in long-term care facilities for collecting votes. The memo says facilities have a “responsibility to preserve residents’ rights to vote and to promote participation in the democratic process.” But says, “This activity should not violate federal or state voting laws.” And that staff “cannot engage in inappropriate coercion or other violations of residents’ rights.” “Residents who require assistance to vote should have the option of receiving assistance from the person of their choosing and should be offered the option of receiving assistance from their authorized representative,” the CMS memo says. The Election Integrity Network released a tool kit for instructing senior facilities on how to comply with the CMS guidance. Among other things, the tool kit suggests that facilities or caregivers avoid assumptions and ensure…
https://tennesseestar.com/elections/ballot-harvesting-concerns-in-nursing-homes-spur-new-push-to-protect-vulnerable-seniors/dsignal/2026/09/18/
