Christopher Peak Photo
Registrar Shannel Evans explains the rules at Advanced Nursing.
Fifteen seniors confined to a nursing home won’t make it to the polls on Nov. 5 — but they got to cast their ballots anyway, thanks to a visit Thursday from the city’s registrar of voters office.
The visitors spent Thursday morning canvassing every floor of the Advanced Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation on Davenport Avenue in the Hill, collecting absentee ballots from those who won’t be able to make it to the polls for the Nov. 5 mayoral race between Toni Harp and Justin Elicker.
Over the course of a week, they have been visiting six nursing homes throughout the city, including Leeway in Cedar Hill for the first time this year, said Shannel Evans, the Democratic registrar.
Candidates and volunteers can observe these on-site voting visits (as Hill Alder Ron Hurt and Harp volunteer Pam Allen did on Thursday) but they can’t campaign, Evans added.
Some confusion and allegations of rule-breaking arose among members of the mayoral campaigns during visits earlier in the week. By Thursday, Evans had everyone understanding and following the rules.
Evans: Don’t even point.
Before sending her workers off at Advanced (the former Jewish Home for the Aged), Evans told them to avoid any indication of bias. She told them not to point anywhere on the ballot. She told them to repeat every name, even when asked for just one. She said to clarify if anyone said they wanted to vote for “Toni Harp, the Democrat.” (Harp’s name appears on the Working Families Line. Elicker is the Democratic Party candidate.)
“We don’t want to make them feel like they’re pressured to vote,” Evans said. “We don’t want to make them feel like they have to do something.”
After that, with a stack of envelopes in hand, two workers from each major political party, Danae Mundy and Andria Gieryk, went room to room on the Advanced Center’s third floor.
They waited in the hallways for residents to wake from naps and dress themselves. They spoke slowly and loudly, sometimes over blaring televisions, about why they were coming by. They asked for signatures or even just a crossed-out “x” on the forms. They repeated the candidate names and party affiliations until residents indicated who they wanted. And then they sealed two envelopes shut with glue sticks and left “I Voted” stickers on the tables.
By the time they finish collecting the ballots, the voting will be over, one Advanced resident, Edward Smith, joked from a wheelchair in his room.
After more than two and a half hours, the two workers had collected only about 15 votes, along with one rejected ballot from a Republican who said he didn’t like any of his choices.
On other floors, two more teams collected about another 15 ballots each too.
Danae Mundy and Andria Gieryk.
Mundy, who was visiting nursing homes with the registrars’ office for the first time, said the experience had been rewarding for her. She said it felt “vital” to help lifelong voters stay engaged in the political process.
“I take it very seriously. You’re trusting us. To have to rely on someone, I don’t take that lightly,” Mundy said, while waiting to be invited into one woman’s room. “That’s why I let them know your vote matters. You count. We value you. Because some people feel forgotten.”
That sometimes meant sitting with the residents in their rooms for a few minutes to make them feel comfortable, like for Robert Foose, who just wanted someone to hold his hands that had gone cold and asked them not to leave.
Thursday’s early voting mostly went smoothly, although a few residents did try to ask for more information before filling out their ballots. The registrars’ workers carefully sidestepped those questions.
“I’m going with Harp,” Arnold Carroci said. “Everybody said that she’s doing a good job. Im going to give her my vote.”
What about down-ballot? Would he like to pick Michael Smart, either on the Democratic or Working Families party lines?
“He’s probably working with Toni then, huh?” Carroci asked.
The two workers hesitated, but Evans stepped in from the hallway to clarify. “Working Families, the party is supporting both of them,” she said.
For the Board of Alders? Ron Hurt or Maria Rodriguez?
“Do they assist or help Harp in anyway?” Carroci asked again. “I don’t know anything about it.”
“I don’t know and I can’t say,” Gieryk said. “You can leave it blank.”
Carroci thanked them, then tried to get them to stick around and chat about the presidential election. “What do you think about this Donald Trump?” he asked. “You know, I like him, but he’s a character though, ain’t he?” He asked who’d be running as the Democrat.
“I can’t give you my opinion while I’m working,” Gieryk said. “If you catch me somewhere on the street, I can give you my opinion.”
“When the time comes to vote, make sure you cast yours so your vote will be counted,” Mundy said. “Your vote counts and it matters. We’ll be back.”
Advanced Center, on Davenport Avenue.
Is this how the system is supposed to work?
I thought individuals need to request absentee ballots first, (people can help with this process), and that they were then supposed to complete and return the ballots unassisted.
The way the article describes it, election officials are visiting nursing homes, ballots in hand, supervising the actual voting?
I've never heard it it being done this way, and it would appear to be a practice that could be subject to abuse.
Am I right or wrong about this?