Failure to Facilitate Resident Voting Rights
Penalty
Summary
The facility failed to ensure that residents were able to exercise their right to vote in a recent local election. Three residents had documented preferences in their care plans to vote by absentee ballot while residing in the facility. However, their applications for absentee/mail-in ballots were not processed in a timely manner. Staff interviews revealed that all resident applications for absentee ballots were received months before the election but were misplaced and only discovered after the deadline had passed, making it impossible for the residents to vote by mail as they had requested. Additionally, one resident requested transportation to her polling place but was unable to vote in person because the facility did not have a means of transportation available on election day. The Director of Therapeutic Recreation confirmed that the facility lacked access to a van for transporting residents to polling places. The Nursing Home Administrator acknowledged these issues and confirmed that transportation was not readily accessible for residents wishing to vote in person.