Jia Lissa
As the critical midterm elections draw near, a new and concerning front has opened in the ongoing campaign by election denial groups to undermine public trust in democratic processes: the nation’s nursing homes and assisted-living facilities. These organizations, spearheaded by the prominent right-wing Election Integrity Network, are propagating unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud within these vulnerable communities, subsequently mobilizing their followers to scrutinize and question care facilities across the country. This coordinated effort marks a significant escalation in tactics, targeting a demographic traditionally seen as requiring assistance to exercise their voting rights, rather than being a source of electoral malfeasance.
The Genesis of Allegations and Recruitment Drive
The narrative fueling this campaign originates from figures like Cleta Mitchell, founder of the Election Integrity Network. In a recent appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room show, Mitchell vociferously asserted, "These left-wing groups go into the nursing homes, and they go into the group homes, and they basically steal the votes of these most vulnerable." This incendiary claim, broadcast to a wide audience, posits a systemic effort by unnamed "left-wing groups" to exploit elderly and infirm residents for electoral gain.
To bolster her argument, Mitchell cited a specific incident from Wisconsin in 2020, where a local sheriff had alleged that eight residents in a care home had their ballots improperly filled out. However, this claim was definitively rejected by the Wisconsin Election Commission after a thorough review, finding no evidence of voter fraud. Despite this official debunking, Mitchell repurposed the unproven allegation, suggesting it "could have cost president Donald Trump the 2020 election." This assertion, too, is factually incorrect; Trump lost Wisconsin by more than 20,000 votes, a margin far exceeding the handful of disputed ballots in the cited case. The persistent recycling of debunked claims is a hallmark of the broader election denial movement, designed to create an echo chamber of suspicion irrespective of verifiable evidence.
The Election Integrity Network has translated these allegations into actionable directives for its base. The group has actively urged its followers to download a "toolkit" from its website, providing instructions for contacting and questioning nursing homes in their local areas via email and phone calls. Beyond direct outreach, the network has also orchestrated a robust social media campaign, disseminating multiple images and posts designed to reinforce the narrative of widespread voter fraud in long-term care facilities. One particularly revealing aspect of this campaign involved sharing a series of posts mapping residential care facilities within competitive congressional districts across key battleground states such as Arizona, California, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. These posts ominously labeled residents as "vulnerable" and "targets for political predators seeking easy access to ballots," implicitly linking assistance with voting to fraudulent activity. This mapping strategy highlights a calculated approach to focus efforts on areas where electoral outcomes are perceived to be tight, amplifying the potential for disruption and intimidation.
A Broader Push to Undermine Electoral Trust
The targeting of nursing homes is not an isolated incident but rather a strategic component of a much broader, coordinated push by election deniers to erode public confidence in the integrity of the American electoral system. This campaign parallels other unsubstantiated claims that have gained traction within certain political circles, including allegations of widespread non-citizen voting and mass mail-in voter fraud. These narratives, often amplified and "supercharged" by pronouncements from the Trump administration and its allies, form a continuum of efforts to cast doubt on election outcomes, particularly when they do not favor their preferred candidates. The long-term implications of such sustained attacks on electoral legitimacy are profound, threatening to undermine the foundational trust necessary for a functioning democracy.
The CMS Memo: A Chronology of Policy Shifts and Criticism
Adding another layer of complexity to this unfolding situation is a significant policy shift initiated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency responsible for overseeing nursing homes. In July, CMS issued a memo that dramatically altered previous guidance on how nursing home staff could assist residents with voting. Prior guidance had explicitly outlined permissible forms of assistance, such as helping with mail-in ballot applications or transporting residents to polling locations, recognizing the unique challenges faced by many residents in exercising their franchise.
The new July memo, however, rescinded this supportive guidance, replacing it with stern warnings and threats of prosecution if staff were found to "engage in inappropriate coercion or other violations of residents’ rights." While protecting residents from coercion is a legitimate concern, the memo’s language and timing raised immediate red flags. Crucially, the memo claimed that CMS had "become aware of several allegations of instances in which resident rights were unlawfully violated." Yet, a closer examination of the examples cited in the memo reveals that they did not lead to any proven cases of voter fraud, echoing the pattern of unsubstantiated claims seen from election denial groups. The lack of concrete evidence for these allegations, coupled with the sudden shift in policy, suggested to many critics that the memo might serve to intimidate staff rather than genuinely protect voters. CMS did not respond to requests for comment regarding the memo’s basis or intent.
The policy change quickly drew sharp criticism from legislative bodies and voting rights advocates. In August, a group of senators, led by Elizabeth Warren and Alex Padilla, penned a scathing letter to CMS. They argued that far from protecting the country’s approximately 2 million nursing home residents, the new rules were more likely to disenfranchise them. The senators expressed deep concern, writing, "CMS issued a memo that appears to be an attempt to intimidate nursing home staff from assisting residents in the voting process." The letter was notably addressed to CMS administrator Mehmet Oz, who himself has publicly flip-flopped on the legitimacy of the 2020 election results, a detail that further fueled suspicions about the memo’s underlying motivations. This political context underscores the highly charged environment surrounding discussions of election integrity, particularly as it pertains to vulnerable populations.
Other Actors and Their Campaigns
The Election Integrity Network is not alone in this endeavor. Project Civica, a New York-based election denial group, has launched a similar initiative titled "Adopt a Care Facility." When contacted, Project Civica indicated it could not disclose the number of participants in its campaign but reiterated claims mirroring those made by CMS and the Election Integrity Network regarding voter fraud in Wisconsin and other alleged irregularities.
Kim Hermance, cofounder and president of Project Civica, clarified her group’s stance to WIRED, stating, "We do not presume wrongdoing by a facility because its residents need voting assistance." However, she continued, "There are other public cases of forged absentee applications and similar problems. Separately, in our own review of New York records, we noticed people over 85 who appeared to register and vote for the first time shortly before an election. That is not illegal by itself, but it raised a basic question about how facilities handle the process." While superficially presenting a neutral stance, such statements, by raising "basic questions" about legitimate voting processes without evidence of illegality, contribute to the overall climate of suspicion and doubt that these groups seek to cultivate. The inference that first-time voters over 85 are inherently suspicious, despite the legality and often necessity of assistance for such individuals, underscores the underlying intent to scrutinize and potentially deter voting among the elderly.
Implications for Voter Access and Democratic Integrity
The coordinated efforts by election denial groups, coupled with the revised CMS guidance, carry significant implications for the voting rights of nursing home residents. The elderly and individuals with disabilities residing in long-term care facilities often face unique challenges in accessing the ballot box, ranging from physical mobility issues to cognitive impairments. Historically, nursing home staff, family members, and non-partisan volunteer organizations have played a crucial role in facilitating their participation, ensuring that these citizens are not disenfranchised simply due to their living circumstances.
The current campaign risks creating a "chilling effect" on both residents and staff. Staff, fearing legal repercussions or harassment, may become hesitant to offer assistance, even when legally permissible and ethically necessary. Residents, hearing claims of widespread fraud and the potential for their votes to be "stolen," may become discouraged from voting altogether. This outcome directly contradicts the spirit of laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Voting Rights Act, which aim to ensure equitable access to the ballot for all eligible citizens.
Furthermore, the propagation of unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud in nursing homes diverts critical resources. Election officials, who are already stretched thin, may be forced to investigate baseless allegations instead of focusing on legitimate election administration and voter outreach. Nursing home administrators and staff, whose primary focus should be resident care, may find themselves fielding intrusive inquiries and defending against unfounded accusations.
The Broader Context of Election Integrity
It is crucial to contextualize these specific actions within the broader landscape of election integrity efforts. While legitimate concerns about voter fraud are universally shared, comprehensive studies and analyses by reputable election experts, law enforcement agencies, and bipartisan commissions consistently demonstrate that widespread voter fraud in the United States is exceedingly rare. Instances of fraud are typically isolated, quickly detected, and do not impact the overall outcome of elections. The focus on vulnerable populations like nursing home residents, based on scant to non-existent evidence, appears to be a politically motivated tactic rather than a genuine effort to address a pervasive problem.
As the midterm elections rapidly approach, the actions of groups like the Election Integrity Network and Project Civica, combined with the ambiguous stance of federal agencies, represent a concerted challenge to the principle of universal voter access. The balance between ensuring election security and protecting the fundamental right to vote for all citizens, especially the most vulnerable, remains a critical and increasingly contested battleground in American democracy. The ongoing narrative of fraudulent voting within nursing homes, divorced from factual evidence, threatens not only the individual voting rights of elderly and disabled Americans but also the collective trust in the electoral system itself.
