Elders in our population have historically been a consistent force of turning out in great numbers to vote. As our population gets older, however, difficulties with mobility can have an impact on that visit to the polls. I grew up, like most baby boomers, with excellent role models of voting from both my parents and my grandparents. My paternal grandmother served as president of the League of Women Voters in Kansas City. What are some of the challenges older people at the polling place face now? Many disabled and elderly voters face new difficulties at the polling place. Read more here.
In terms of hot-button issues, probably the #1 is Medicare (no surprise, or perhaps it’s tied with Social Security). Here’s a good article from the New York Times that discusses some of the changes proposed by Mitt Romney and his running mate. This article refers to “Mediscare tactics,” a recurring election year phenomenon.
If you’re looking for more information, this recent post in Scientific American titled “Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on Medicare and Medicaid” is helpful as well
If you’re tired of all the polarity, intransigence and name-calling, you might consider looking at Project Vote Smart here. They have email updates you can subscribe to as well as a blog. Visit this site for bios, voting records, positions on important issues, ratings and the like.
And what about protected persons (those subject to a guardianship) and voting rights? Well, they can still vote! They maybe institutionalized and may have lost many of their civil rights over their day-to-day decisions, but they have not been disenfranchised!
This year will be interesting, as it is very evident we have come a long way from the early days when Florida Congressman Claude Pepper was the voice of the elderly voting bloc in Florida and served as an eloquent spokesman for so many elders nationwide. The population of elders is much larger now, encompasses a wider range of ages and is politically more diverse than ever.
What is interesting is that as new requirements with voter registration and voter identification are being tested in many states, our population continues to age and the challenges of mobility, disability and ease of voting will continue to grow for this population. This trend will continue into the future, as the numbers of the oldest of the old continue to grow as does the number of baby boomers going into retirement. For further reading, check out this recent report from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU law school here. If you need to check and make sure you are registered to vote in Colorado, click here. Whatever the weather – get out the vote!