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VA to help more veterans with voting

A revised voting assistance policy for patients at veterans’ hospitals and nursing homes has satisfied two senators who have been pressing the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide more help.

The April 25 policy for VA’s Veterans Health Administration requires the agency to help patients unable to leave a facility in registering to vote and voting by absentee ballot.

Patients and residents who are able to leave must receive authorized absences to go vote.

VA will use volunteers rather than paid workers to provide the voting assistance.

Before any VA worker or volunteer can help a veteran, they must read and sign a document that explains they may perform only nonpartisan activities.

The new directive says it is the policy of the Veterans Health Administration “to assist patients who seek to exercise their right to register and vote.”

It requires every facility to have a written and published policy on voter assistance and to post information on voting help in hospitals and nursing homes.

Primary responsibility for providing help will rest with the voluntary service officer at each facility, who is required to tell all incoming patients and nursing home residents that voting help is available.

Two Democratic senators who have been pushing VA to provide more voting help, Dianne Feinstein of California and John Kerry of Massachusetts, issued statements saying they were pleased with the policy change.

“I am hopeful that this apparent reversal will be one large step forward in the fight to protect the right of America’s veterans to vote,” Kerry said.

He pledged to “continue to monitor this situation motivated by one and only one principle: Those who fight for democracy overseas shouldn’t have to fight for democracy here at home.”

Feinstein called the new directive “a dramatic turnaround in granting veterans the access to voter registration that they rightfully deserve.”

The policy “would require that all VA facilities develop comprehensive voter registration plans to assist veterans in voting,” she said. “Given the sacrifices that these men and women have made, providing easy access to voter registration services is the very least we can do.”

VA Secretary Dr. James Peake had previously told Feinstein and Kerry that the VA wanted to help, but did not have resources for a large-scale voter registration program. Turning to volunteers resolves the resource problem.