It Just Got Harder for Ballot Harvesters to Dupe Nursing Home Residents
If grandma voted for the first time after she stopped recognizing her own children, it might be voter fraud.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has sent a letter to nursing homes rescinding a Biden-era directive that made it easy to harvest ballots among vulnerable residents.
"In recent years, we have become aware of several allegations of instances in which resident rights were unlawfully violated" the CMS letter reads. "In Texas, a social worker was charged with 134 felony counts involving election fraud for unlawfully registering residents of the Mexia State Supported Living Center . . . . In Wisconsin, Sheriff Christopher Schmaling and Sgt. Michael Luell investigated a case in which they alleged that eight men and women whose mental capacities had diminished due to age or disease sent mail-in ballots from Ridgewood Care Center."
That case prompted the Wisconsin Assembly to appoint retired state Supreme Court justice Special Counsel Michael Gableman to look into nursing home fraud in the 2020 election. His 2022 report described "widespread election fraud," in nursing homes, noting that many facilities had a 100 percent voting rate in 2020, which included many ineligible voters and those in memory care units.
A Simple Letter
On Sept. 26, just over a month before the November 2024 presidential election, Biden's CMS sent a Quality and Safety Special Alert Memo (QSSAM) reminding nursing homes that a resident's right to vote "must not be impeded in any way" by nursing home staff. That letter advised nursing homes to ensure residents can vote. The facilities were told to offer residents transportation to the polls, voting by mail, absentee ballots, and they should offer "mobile polling" in the facility "performed by a bipartisan team of workers."
Nursing homes were also told help residents register to vote, request an absentee ballot, or complete a ballot. The help could be almost anyone, a family representative, a long-term care ombudsmen, nursing home staff, or anyone permitted by law.
"The former guidance issued by the Biden administration Was written so loosely that it would invite Vote fraud perpetrated against vulnerable voters," Lori Roman, chairman and CEO of the American Constitutional Rights Union and ACRU Action Fund, told Restoration News.
ACRU has been fighting to protect voters in residential facilities since January 2020. ACRU founding board member former Attorney General Edwin Meese calls vote fraud perpetrated against vulnerable voters "the most despicable form of vote fraud."
The Election Research Institute has also worked on fraud in nursing homes and issued a report in August 2024 that opens with the story of Lucy Corrato, 91, a woman who intentionally never registered to vote for at least 30 years. She did not sign any forms and insisted she did not vote, yet the county election office received and counted a ballot in her name. "U.S. citizens have the right to vote but they also have the right not to vote," the report reads.
Letter Rescinded
CMS sent a July 20, 2026, QSSAM to nursing homes rescinding Biden's 2024 memo. It reminds facilities that residents retain all the same rights as other citizens, including the right to vote or decline to vote, and that federal regulations prohibit facilities and their staff from interfering with, coercing, or improperly influencing the exercise of resident rights.
CMS clarified that nursing homes can't violate voting laws by registering residents as voters without their knowledge or consent, or complete a mail-in ballot on a resident's behalf without authorization.
A nonverbal resident in memory care is probably not able to consent to voting matters.
Nursing homes must notify the resident's authorized representative, usually a family member, if there is a change in the resident's legal or civil rights related to voting.
And residents who need help voting should have the option of receiving help from someone they choose. They should be offered the option of receiving help from their authorized representative, CMS directs.
A QSSAM is more than a suggestion. It is a standard of care that will be evaluated by every facility that receives money through Medicaid and Medicare. CMS has authority to impose financial penalties, deny payments, or revoke certification to receive reimbursements from CMS.
"These federal changes are important to reduce the vote fraud that regularly occurs in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and group homes. Some of these crimes against vulnerable voters have resulted in criminal convictions," said Roman.
MORE ELECTION INTEGRITY NEWS:
COURTS: Appeals Court Ruling Leaves Us Vulnerable to Noncitizen Voting—Why It Matters
RINOS: Lisa Murkowski Opposes Core Safeguard of the SAVE America Act
MYTH NO MORE: Democrat Policies Put Noncitizens on New Jersey's Voter Rolls—Proof We Need the SAVE Act
WATCH: Here's How Republicans Can Save Elections: Seth Keshel | Restoration Spotlight
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