Every voice matters and every vote counts: We must vote for our health this November

We are just over 2 months away from the Nov. 8 election, and now is the time to ensure that every eligible person in our nation is registered to vote, is ready and committed to casting their ballot and has the supports needed to vote.

As we move from Civic Health Month in August into the beginning of September, it is important for every eligible person to check their voter registration status, register to vote and make a plan to vote.

Although 2022 is not a presidential election year, we cannot sit this election out. We must vote for our health, and our vote is our voice.

Dates to request absentee ballots are often in September and October, and voter registration and absentee ballot request deadlines can be as early as October, depending on the state, so now is the time for our patients and us to register to vote and request an absentee ballot, if needed.

Not only will we be voting for our members of Congress in the upcoming November election, which will determine the control of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, but we will also be voting for our state and local elected officials, including governors, state delegates, state Supreme Court justices, state attorneys general, mayors, city council members, local board members and ballot measures.

Local and state elections are extremely important, and we must have our voices and the voices of our patients heard at the ballot box.

Our vote in this election may determine access to reproductive health care, whether children have ongoing access to free meals at public schools, whether some states expand Medicaid, the public health response to COVID-19 and monkeypox, and other important issues that address the social determinants of health and affect health outcomes.

Recent elections have shown us that every vote really does matter. There are several examples of elections determined by just a handful of votes, and it is important that everyone eligible to vote actually casts their ballots in the November midterm election.

As physicians, we should not only ensure that our eligible patients are registered to vote, but that we ourselves are registered to vote and have a clear plan for when we will vote.

Physicians have historically been less likely to vote than the general population. Although recent elections may have shown a gradually increasing trend in physician voter turnout, work schedule conflicts and lower voter registration rates among physicians represent some of the greatest impediments to physician voting.

With the start of a new academic year, many students and trainees have moved to new cities and states, and now is the time to ensure that every eligible person is registered to vote and has all the tools needed to cast their ballot by election day.

Rules regarding absentee ballot request and submission deadlines and drop off locations, early voting times and locations, voter ID laws and voter registration deadlines and eligibility are continually changing, and it is important for every person to know what the current laws are in their state so that they are ready and able to vote and will not be turned away on election day for not meeting all the voting requirements.

Voter resources and information

Campus Vote Project is an excellent resource to look up current voting laws and deadlines by state, which is particularly helpful for individuals who have recently moved to a new state, such as students, trainees, physicians starting new jobs, and any faculty, staff or patients who have recently relocated. This resource provides voter registration deadlines and election dates, links to official election websites, information on IDs needed to register and/or vote, where and how to vote, and other frequently asked questions.

Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote, or APIAVote, also allows you to look up important voting information and primary and general election voter registration and absentee ballot deadlines by state.

Information on absentee ballot request and submission deadlines and state ballot trackers are available here on Vote.org.

Vot-ER is another helpful resource that allows health professionals to request a badge with a QR code that can be used to quickly check voter registration status, register a person to vote, and/or request an absentee ballot, including for any patients, students, trainees, colleagues or other eligible individuals wanting to vote.

Even if a person has previously registered to vote in their current jurisdiction, it is critical to check their voter registration status as soon as possible to ensure their registration is active and in case there are problems with their registration, or their names have been removed from the list of registered voters, while there is still time to correct this.

In addition, if a person has recently moved to a new address, even if still in the same state, it is important to register to vote at their new address and determine at which polling location they will need to vote, which may depend on the date of their move.

Particularly when registering patients to vote, it is essential to determine if individuals may be newly eligible to vote.

For example, those turning 18 years prior to the election and those recently naturalized as U.S. citizens should register to vote. In addition, due to frequently changing policies, in certain states, specific populations, such as formerly incarcerated individuals no longer in prison, may be newly eligible to vote in the upcoming elections, but it is important to regularly check state board of elections websites to determine updates to voter eligibility.

Links to specific state board of elections websites can be found here.

Most importantly, we must empower every eligible person, including our patients, our colleagues and ourselves, to vote in the upcoming election, and we must normalize asking whether our patients and colleagues are registered to vote and offer assistance with voter registration, if needed.

Now is the time to ensure that we and our patients know when and where we can vote and select the date when we will vote, if living in a state with early voting. As physicians, we are busy and often lack control of our schedules. Similarly, many of our patients may not be in a position to easily take time to vote due to work and family responsibilities.

Absentee ballots represent one option to vote by mail and avoid having to take the time to vote in person, but states differ in who can and under what circumstances a person may request an absentee ballot. It is, therefore, vital that we take the time now to request an absentee ballot for ourselves or show our patients how to do this, if in a state where this is an option, and determine when and how to return the absentee ballot, so that each of our voices is heard through our vote.

Alternatively, if we or our patients are planning to vote in person, now is the time to request any needed time off to vote, make transportation arrangements, arrange for child care and plan for any other logistics in order to ensure the necessary supports are in place to vote on election day, or determine if we may be able to vote during a scheduled day off from work during the early voting period if we are in a state that allows early voting.

In addition, early voting locations are often different from assigned election day polling locations and voting hours can vary, so it is important that we and our patients know where we will need to go and at what time, if planning to vote early or on election day.

Voting rights

It is also critical that we ensure that our patients know their rights and know that they cannot be turned away from voting if they arrive prior to polls closing and are in line to vote if there are long election day voting lines.

For individuals with difficulty reading or writing English, federal law allows in-person assistance at the polling location from a family member, friend or other person of the individual’s choice, as long as it is not their employer or agent of their employer or union. Also, it is important to let our patients know that this is allowed to eliminate language barriers to voting and improve voter participation in communities, such as in the Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander community, which have historically had low voter turnout due to language barriers.

We should also share with our patients the contact information for nonpartisan election protection hotline assistance if they run into problems at the polls when coming to vote, which is available in English and other select languages:

• English, 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683);
• Spanish, 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (1-888-839-8682);
• Arabic, 1-844-YALLA-US (1-844-925-5287); and
• Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Vietnamese: 1-888-API-VOTE (1-888-274-8683).

Further, under the Voting Rights Act, select counties in the United States are required to provide bilingual voting materials and additional language assistance at polling locations within these counties, and we must inform our patients of these available resources to empower every eligible person to vote regardless of English proficiency.

Here is a list of counties required to provide bilingual voting materials in select languages.

We must also ensure that our older patients and our patients with disabilities know that, under federal law, polling sites must be fully accessible to individuals with disabilities and older adults, and that our patients requiring accommodations are empowered to request the services they need to enable them to vote.

Voting represents power, and civic engagement is critical to our health. It is now more important than ever to ensure that each of our voices is heard through our vote and that we encourage full participation of our eligible patients, colleagues and communities in the upcoming election.

The results of this election will depend on voter turnout, and we must do everything in our power to make sure that every eligible person in our nation exercises their right to vote in November.

The actions that we take now to register every eligible person to vote, to make concrete plans outlining when, where and how we will vote, to eliminate barriers to voting that we and our patients face, and to empower our patients and ourselves to know our rights and vote in November will determine the election outcomes and will directly influence our patients’ and our nation’s health.

Voting is our right and no one who is eligible to vote should pass up the opportunity to have their voices heard at the ballot box because every vote really does matter, and we should ensure that we and all of our eligible patients, colleagues, students and trainees vote in the Nov. 8, 2022, election.

Creating a Voting Plan

1. I will check my voter registration status and/or register to vote on this day: _________.

2. I plan to vote:

[ ] in person or

[ ] by absentee ballot

If I am voting in person, I will vote on this day:_______ at this time: ______ at this location: _____________________, and I have transportation to this location, will have an acceptable form of identification with me if IDs are required, and have requested time off to vote at this time, or this is my day off.

If I am voting by absentee ballot, I will request my absentee ballot on this day: ______ and will return my absentee ballot on this day: ____________, and I plan to return my absentee ballot using this method: ___________________.

References:

• Absentee ballot deadlines. https://www.vote.org/absentee-ballot-deadlines/. Accessed Aug. 30, 2022.
• Ahmed A, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.42527.
• APIA Vote. https://apiavote.org/how-to-vote/in-your-state/. Accessed Aug. 30, 2022.
• Campus Vote Project. https://www.campusvoteproject.org/. Accessed Aug. 30, 2022.
• Find my state or local election office website. https://www.usa.gov/election-office. Accessed Aug. 30, 2022.
• Know your right — voting rights. https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/voting-rights. Accessed Aug. 30, 2022.
• Language access. https://www.advancingjustice-aajc.org/language-access. Accessed Aug. 30, 2022.
• Vot-ER. https://vot-er.org/. Accessed Aug. 30, 2022.
• Why every vote matters — the elections decided by a single vote (or a little more). https://www.npr.org/2018/11/03/663709392/why-every-vote-matters-the-elections-decided-by-a-single-vote-or-a-little-more. Published Nov. 3, 2018. Accessed Aug. 30, 2022.