By Jason Karlawish

Among residents of long-term care facilities who want to vote – and studies estimate that on average about one-thirds and in some facilities as many as three-quarters do vote – nearly all require an absentee ballot. However, for residents of many nursing homes, state requirements for what is a valid absentee ballot mean that their vote may not count.

Nursing home residents are typically disabled to the degree that they need assistance performing many basic activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing and moving about a room. The journey from their room to an offsite voting booth is simply an undue burden. Voting by absentee ballot is among the most common methods to enfranchise the disabled.

But absentee balloting is also one of the most common methods of voter fraud, such as stealing multiple residents’ ballots or throwing away ballots. No studies have shown, but rumors persist and cases accumulate, of long-term care facilities being the prime venue to commit such fraud.

Read the full post at NewsObserver.com