Voter Fraud, Or People Who Shouldn’t Be Voting At All ?
By Doug Mataconis | Related entries in 2008 Election
Jazz Shaw at The Moderate Voice links to a story from Columbus, Ohio that raises some very difficult questions:
In Highland County, 95-year-old Mildred Meddock registered and voted for the first time in her life despite her advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
Her granddaughters learned of her newfound patriotism when they visited the nursing home where Meddock lives and saw an “I voted today” sticker on her clothing.
Records show that Meddock registered Sept. 26 when two Highland County Board of Elections employees visited the home, Heartland of Hillsboro, about 65 miles south of Columbus. Four other residents also were registered and voted that day.
“I’m hot. I’m livid,” said granddaughter Chrystal Brown. “A month ago, she couldn’t tell you her name she was so bad, and, depending on what time of day it is, her name is the only thing she can tell you.”
The secretary of state’s office is investigating, assigning an attorney to the case and giving him subpoena power.
“When you have a captive audience dealing with a disability, there’s always a concern about undue influence,” Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner told The Dispatch tonight.
My Grandmother had to be admitted to a nursing home after her Alzheimer’s became too advanced for family members to deal with privately, and the nursing home in New Jersey that she was at did have people who came in to help residents register and vote, by absentee, during election time. As soon as I heard about that practice, the possibility for abuse became quite apparent to me — who would ever know that the absentee ballot completed by a woman who had voted in almost every election she had been able to since she’d moved there from Pennsylvania was completed by someone who believed she was waiting for her dead husband to take her home ?
As far as I was able to determine, though, mental competence wasn’t necessarily a requirement for voting, and the resources didn’t really exist to police practices like this. That, apparently, is also the case in Ohio.
We don’t really know how mentally competent Mildred Meddock was when she registered and voted, but given the fact that we’re probably going to have a lot more elderly voters with questionable mental capacities in the future, isn’t it about time we figured out whether they should be allowed to vote when they don’t even know what year it is ?
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Actually, Doug – Breathing or being a human being is not even a requirement for voting. It is the Chicago way.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:42 am
What are the chances she “voted” for Barr?
October 30th, 2008 at 11:23 am
This Presidential election may be the most perfect opportunity of a little Menckenisms:
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”
“Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.”
As for Obama’s Tax policy on the “rich”:
“Wealth – any income that is at least one hundred dollars more a year than the income of one’s wife’s sister’s husband.”
We’re all totally F&^%$*
October 30th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Who says the lady voted at all? Maybe her care giver did the voting.
I am still mad at my mom and dad. They voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 (in ohio) for my grandma, who was so gone with strokes (95 and 99 years old) that she was in fetal position for the last few years.
They figure since they are taking care of her, they get her vote. Besides they said she would have voted Republican, I am not so sure of that.
I should have turned them in.
To mw, you realize that all the real voter fraud that has gone on lately is done by the republicans? You need to get out of the 60’s.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:56 am
The potential for voter fraud is big, but I feel that the potential for disenfranchisement is bigger. Leave things the way they are.
October 30th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Ballot designs for 2010 are already on the drawing board.
Agnostick
agnostick@excite.com
November 1st, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Yes, this is happening, and it is occurring in every Nursing Facility in the State of Ohio. The list of residents that were voting included those with Advanced Alzheimers, Schizophrenia, and Dementia. Some only know thier name, and answer yes to anything asked of them. Those who were asked by staff who was running this year, answered Einsenhower.
Go figure.
November 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 am
This appears to be occuring everywhere and it appears no one cares. A close friend whose mother is in a nursing home in Sandusky due to a stroke voted as well.
Her son who has power of attorney after having her declared legally incompitent said it appears an employee did the voting. He did not say for whom the vote was cast. Although, it does not matter.
His family is looking into the matter and I’ve emailed numerous news agencies and the Ohio GOP. I’m amazed the national media does not pick up on this story.