{"id":1482,"date":"2026-08-14T20:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T20:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482"},"modified":"2026-08-14T20:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T20:37:16","slug":"democrats-warn-new-federal-guidance-may-harm-nursing-home-residents-voting-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
\n

Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news \u2014 make a <\/span><\/i>quick donation<\/span><\/i> to Truthout today!\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, Are Now Being Forced to Wear Ankle Monitors<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s far-reaching assault on voting rights has extended to nursing homes, a group of Democratic senators warned on Thursday, pointing to federal guidance recently issued by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.<\/p>\n

The guidance, in July, removes on how nursing home staff can assist residents in exercising their constitutional rights and warns facility employees against violating \u201cfederal or state voting laws.\u201d The guidance points to a highly dubious Texas case in which a social worker was charged with orchestrating an election fraud scheme, even though no improper votes were cast.<\/p>\n

In a sent earlier this week to CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, Sens. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and 11 other Democrats argued that the agency\u2019s July guidance \u201cmay intimidate nursing home staff from helping residents exercise their constitutional right to vote and ultimately prevent nursing home residents from voting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nation\u2019s 1.2 million nursing home residents face unique problems in obtaining access to the voting booth,\u201d the lawmakers added, \u201cand must not be denied their rights because they are disabled, elderly, lack transit, or face difficulties in obtaining a ballot or voting in person.\u201d<\/p>\n

The senators emphasized that the new CMS memo breaks with guidance issued during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term in the White House. That guidance, , states that \u201cnursing homes should have a plan to ensure residents can exercise their right to vote, whether in person, by mail, absentee, or other authorized process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such language is entirely absent from the new guidance, which focuses heavily on preventing voter fraud\u2014an obsession of Trump\u2019s, despite it being extremely rare in the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cCMS\u2019s release of this memo is just the latest in a series of actions the Trump administration has taken to restrict vote by mail and undermine the right to vote based on unfounded allegations of voter fraud tied to the president\u2019s denial of prior valid election results,\u201d the Democratic senators wrote in their letter. \u201cWe are concerned that by highlighting examples of prior voter fraud investigations and threatening criminal penalties on nursing home staff \u2014 many of whom are legal immigrants who have already been targeted by Trump\u2019s immigration policies \u2014 CMS\u2019s July 2026 guidance may intimidate nursing home staff from helping residents with the voting process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more EPA Has Stopped Including Cancer Risk Estimates in Air Pollution Data<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the removal of guidance on vote by mail procedures, combined with specific threats to investigate nursing home staff for assisting residents who are exercising their right to vote, may deter nursing homes from assisting residents with voting by mail,\u201d they added. \u201cUltimately, we are concerned that the changes to CMS\u2019s guidance will result in the disenfranchisement of nursing home residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Houston Chronicle<\/em>, in its coverage of the new CMS guidance, spotlights the Trump administration\u2019s decision to cite the Texas case, which involved social worker Kelly Brunner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Kelly Brunner was tasked in 2020 with getting the State Supported Living Center in Mexia ready to vote, she was excited to assist the residents with intellectual and developmental disorders prepare for a big election. Instead, her work as the assistant voter registrar at the facility east of Waco spiraled into a nightmare,\u201d the outlet noted. \u201cBrunner admitted making technical errors in the complicated registration system, which were all quickly caught; no resident cast an improper vote. Yet, pushed by Attorney General Ken Paxton \u2014 who at the time was promoting President Donald Trump\u2019s false claims of a rigged presidential election \u2014 she was criminally charged with orchestrating one of the largest election fraud cases ever in Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBrunner spent $50,000 on lawyers, pleaded guilty to minor charges to put it behind her, lost her teacher\u2019s license and nearly her social worker\u2019s license,\u201d the Chronicle added. \u201cStill, she thought the episode was finally over \u2014 until\u2026 [CMS] cited Brunner as the reason it needed to officially place employees of long-term care facilities on notice that they should be on the lookout for voter fraud in the upcoming midterm elections.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richard Mollot, executive director of the New York-based Long Term Care Community Coalition, told the Chronicle<\/em> that the Trump administration\u2019s heavy focus on preventing voter fraud \u201cwill have a chilling effect\u201d on nursing home resident voting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe language is important,\u201d said Mollot. \u201cMost nursing homes will do as little as possible; if you\u2019re not affirmatively telling them what to do, they won\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Israeli Settlers Cut Off Palestinian Farmers\u2019 Water to Fill a Swimming Pool<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The memo removes recommendations on how nursing home staff can assist residents with exercising their right to vote.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nDemocrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The memo removes recommendations on how nursing home staff can assist residents with exercising their right to vote.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-14T20:37:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T20:37:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482\"},\"wordCount\":789,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/56d41fe34e3905df9ef220d272b83939.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482\",\"name\":\"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights - Smart Moving Home\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/56d41fe34e3905df9ef220d272b83939.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T20:37:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/56d41fe34e3905df9ef220d272b83939.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/56d41fe34e3905df9ef220d272b83939.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1482#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Smart Moving Home\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights - Smart Moving Home","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights - Smart Moving Home","og_description":"The memo removes recommendations on how nursing home staff can assist residents with exercising their right to vote.","og_url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482","og_site_name":"Smart Moving Home","article_published_time":"2026-08-14T20:37:16+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"headline":"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights","datePublished":"2026-08-14T20:37:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482"},"wordCount":789,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/56d41fe34e3905df9ef220d272b83939.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482","name":"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights - Smart Moving Home","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/56d41fe34e3905df9ef220d272b83939.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-14T20:37:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/56d41fe34e3905df9ef220d272b83939.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/56d41fe34e3905df9ef220d272b83939.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1482#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Democrats Warn New Federal Guidance May Harm Nursing Home Residents\u2019 Voting Rights"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/","name":"Smart Moving Home","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/smartmovinghome.com"],"url":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}