Protecting Nursing Home Residents from Political Abuse
In addition to physical, mental, and financial abuse, Philadelphia's nursing home residents are subject to another form of abuse. Nursing home abuse can take the form of political disenfranchisement, or, worse, pure exploitation. Absentee voting has made it easier for some residents to get their voices heard. With the loosening of restrictions for voters with physical disabilities that prevent them from making their way to an inaccessible polling place, and with blanket permission for voters over the age of 65 to use absentee ballots, Pennsylvania is allowing more elderly to vote than ever.
However, this comes at a price, as some nursing home administrators abuse the voting rights of mentally disabled residents. In 1999, Austin Murphy, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania was convicted of one count of voter fraud (out of 4 original charges, 3 of which were dropped as part of the settlement) for forging nursing home residents' ballots. Although Murphy's conviction is a rarity, there are many dubious practices followed in collecting votes from elderly residents. In one common practice, nursing home operators take payments for each resident who votes in favor of a certain candidate.
Make sure that your elderly relatives get their vote counted as it should be. Don't leave assistance to the nursing home operator, who may have other designs. Visit the Pennsylvania Department of State's online voting information and resource center for more information on helping elderly and disabled relatives to cast their ballots.
If you think you or a relative has been a victim of political abuse, contact the experienced nursing home abuse attorneys at Pomerantz, Perlberger, and Lewis, LLP today for a free initial consultation.
