Already tasked with protecting residents from COVID-19, nursing homes are challenged to help residents navigate voting during the pandemic.

By Kenneth Tran, Granite State News Collaborative 

Nursing homes are already tasked with facing a global pandemic, and now they’re focused on helping residents vote in this historic election cycle, whether in person or by mail. 

Merrimack County Nursing Home, in Hillsboro, is allowing residents to vote in person, but encouraging them to vote by mail. Residents are able to go to a polling place and are provided transportation, with safety precautions of course, said Lori Dresser, director at Merrimack County Nursing Home.

“Our staff, they're going to make sure that they have their mask on, that they stay six feet, that we sanitize their hands,” she said. However, she added, “Not a lot of residents want to leave the buildings anyways.”

That might explain why 90 out of around 260 have already voted. At Hillsborough County Nursing Home in Goffstown, 90 of 250 residents have already voted.

According to Doug McNutt, associate state director of AARP New Hampshire, 86% of AARP-NH members vote in a typical presidential election. Older voters have always had higher voter turnout rates than other age groups. In 2016, voters aged 65 or older had a voter turnout rate of 70.9% compared to voters ages 18 to 29, who had a voter turnout rate of 46.1%, for example. 

AARP-NH typically helps residents of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities get out to the ballot box. This year, however, the organization encouraged seniors to vote remotely. 

“We want to make it clear to people they could vote absentee this year,” McNutt said. “We’re doing phone calls and webinars available to participants.” 

This election has high stakes for seniors. Although COVID-19 has made it “difficult to vote, particularly this year,” said McNutt, older voters are especially worried because of issues “like social security, and concerns for [their] family’s future.” 

Even before the coronavirus pandemic hit, nursing homes would actively encourage residents to participate in civic life. 

“We would invite different candidates into the facility to do presentations for residents, we would bring folks that weren't able to do absentee balloting to the polling places as well,” said David Ross, administrator of Hillsborough County Nursing Home in Goffstown. “Folks appreciated that probably more than anything else, to be able to be an active participant.”

Whenever elections come up, town clerks often visit nursing homes to help inform and register residents to vote. But the coronavirus has stopped that from happening. Still, seniors need to be allowed to vote, so the nursing home staff are stepping up.  

“We can't have folks from the town come in to be able to help us with registering folks individually so that responsibility falls upon us,” said Ross. “Folks in our activities department have been going around to all the resident rooms, every week or so, asking folks if they want to vote.”

Merrimack County Nursing Home would typically try to get candidates from both major parties to come to the nursing home to inform residents and keep them civically engaged.

“Once a Democrat has called and wanted to make an appointment, we look to see who we could get for a Republican,” Dresser said. “So that way, the residents can hear both sides and make an informed decision.”

With visitors severely limited, in-person education isn’t an option this year. However, no matter the circumstances, older voters will find a way to vote. A global pandemic will not stop them from taking that opportunity and exercising their civic right to vote. 

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.