Initiative aims to register patients

By Karen Schwartz

Daily Staff Reporter

SAM HOLLENSHEAD/Daily

State Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.) talks Friday with Fredda Clisham of the University Hospitals' child life department about giving hospitalized people access to vote as Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs Gil Omenn looks on.

Although she is not up for re-election until 2002, state Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith wants to support the democratic process and make sure people who want to voice their votes have that choice.

Smith (D-Salem Twp.) spoke Friday at the University Hospitals on a new voting initiative designed to give more people the chance to be part of the decision-making process when election time rolls around this year.

Aimed at making voting accessible, the two-phase initiative includes a three-day registration drive to register hospital staff, visitors and patients. Absentee ballots will be available for people who know medical restrictions will keep them from the polls Nov. 7.

Members of student organizations Youth Vote 2000 and Voice Your Vote will help register voters Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Oct. 10 is the deadline for voters to register for next month's election.

"I think that as elected officials we need to make people aware of how critical their vote really is, and then make it easy for them to vote," Smith said. "And when people are expectedly or unexpectedly hospitalized, the last thing they're thinking about is getting to a voting booth. They shouldn't be denied access to the ballot."

The program endeavors to raise public awareness of the Emergency Absentee Ballot, a provision in Michigan law which allows patients admitted to the hospital less than 72 hours before Election Day the opportunity to vote with a special absentee ballot. "This provision has been part of the election law for a long time. People just don't know to ask for it," program coordinator Beverly Smith said.

By the provision, a family member or volunteer acts as runner and brings the ballot to the patient, who can then vote without leaving the hospital bed. Community volunteers will play an active role in this aspect of the program, which will work in conjunction with the Washtenaw County clerk's office.

"It's a great customer service to voters of Washtenaw County," said Melanie Weidmayer, a representative from the county clerk's office. "And it'll allow people to vote who wouldn't have had a chance to otherwise."

The project, which Sen. Alma Wheeler Smith brought to the table this past spring, is based on a similar initiative at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, where 10,000 people have been registered in the four years the program has been running. Last year, 170 Henry Ford patients took advantage of the Medical Necessity Ballot as well.

The senator said she hopes to see the program enacted at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti and other hospitals statewide. In the future, Smith said she sees no reason that it couldn't expand nationwide and help people throughout the United States.

There are a lot of people here on any given day," hospital Executive Director Larry Warren said. "It's a lot of votes."