PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The government should develop a model for mobile polling to help older U.S. adults facing logistical and geographical voting barriers, a seniors expert says.
Dr. Jason Karlawish of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine said mobile polling requires election officials to visit long-term facilities prior to registration deadlines to encourage and solicit registration. Election officials than directly distribute ballots to long-term facility residents, assist them with voting, collect ballets and ensure their return to a polling site.
Elderly voters -- especially those living in long-term care settings -- are at the mercy of others when it comes to exercising their right to vote, Karlawish said.
Geographical distance, the lack of transportation to polling sites and the lack of assistance to absentee ballot applications are barriers for older Americans to vote, Karlawish said.
Successful models of mobile polling currently exist in Australia and Canada, Karlawish said.
Twenty-nine U.S. states do not have voting guidelines to accommodate residents of long-term care facilities.
Karlawish, director of the university's Institute on Aging, presented his findings on the voting rights for the elderly to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.
