12 August 2008
It has just come to my attention that he secretary of Veterans Affairs issued a directive that bans nonpartisan voter registration drives at federally financed nursing homes, rehabilitation centers and shelters for homeless veterans. As a result many veterans may not be able to vote this November. That sounds like disenfranchisement to me. People trying to pass out voter registration information and new voting machine information at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in West Haven, Conn. were denied admission to the hospital. What goes on here? Vets who have fought for their country not allowed to vote. That sucks. A legless 92 year old vet was interviewed outside the hospital told workers that he tried to get voter registration information last year but nurses could not answer his questions about how or where to cast a ballot.
Think about it, there are thousands of veterans of wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and the current campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan who are isolated behind the walls of V.A. hospitals and nursing homes across the country. What is the rationale behind such a directive? Requests to allow voter registration was denied by Secretary James B. Peake. There are two flimsy reasons why the directive was issued. 1. “Voter registration drives are disruptive to the care of its patients”. 2. “The department claims that its employees cannot help patients register to vote because the Hatch Act forbids federal workers from engaging in partisan political activities”. That’s not true because registering people to vote is not partisan activity. There are several national organizations with a long history of nonpartisan advocacy for veterans and their right to vote that are available to help veterans register.
A fight has begun to help the vets. Republicans and Democrats throughout the country, have asked Secretary Peake to lift his department’s ridiculous ban on voter registration drives.
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