Reply #7: my son in Maine [View All]

[Is It Fascism Yet]

my 34 year old son in Maine suddenly had an emergency hospital admission on Nov 1, with an acute surgical abdomen. They hooked him up with IV pain meds and antibiotics, and said they had to wait a couple of days for the infection to clear before surgery. He started asking right away for an absentee ballot, because, he knew how important this election was. He sent his wife to the elections office to ask for an absentee ballot or a provisional ballot for him. She went, she asked, but she did not conquer. They told her it was too late to get an absentee or a provisional ballot. My son spoke to his nurses, telling them it was urgent that he vote. The nurses said nothing could be done. He re-iterated that he was determined to cast his vote. He demanded to see the hospital social worker. She was called for, but by then it was late, they drugged him to sleep for the night, and the social worker took until the next morning to show up...election day! When the social worker finally did show up, she came intending to pacify him and force him to accept that he was sick and he was just going to have to miss voting this time because there was nothing to be done to remedy the situation. He called me on the phone and said he was afraid to sign out AMA, because he'd have to come back for his surgery, and then his insurance company would screw him over, potentially protesting it wasn't emergent because he had signed out AMA. The kids are always struggling to make ends meet, in this lousy Shrub Economy, and they just bought their first house, so, he dared not sign out AMA. He decided to sneak out. He pulled out his IV, his wife helped dress him, they swiped a wheel chair, meandered casually down the hall, and snuck out of the hospital without signing out AMA. They left the wheel chair in the hospital parking lot, rolled him into a car, and reported to their precinct, where they waited in line. At least he said the line wasn't too long, only 30 min or so, but still, why was it that he couldn't get an emergency provisional ballot in the hospital after an emergency admission? You know what else I worry about, what about old folks? I am getting older, and I wonder, what if you get tired of housekeeping and go into an assisted living situation...nobody campaigns to you, nobody expects you to vote anymore? I really don't think these people vote anymore. Why not? There is an old folks home near me, and I photographed the place to make brochures for the owner, so, I have been there a few times. When I was visiting the old folks home, I wondered if these elderly had been given any campaign information for Kerry, or anybody else, or if they cared. I was tempted to talk politics with them a little. But then, I worried someone might think I was taking advantage of the elderly or think I was pressuring them, or simply making out the absentee ballot for them without their knowledge, so, I didn't visit the old folks home when I campaigned for Kerry. Also, I didn't campaign to the elderly because while some of them are sharp as tacks, some of them have marshmallow for brains, they are gone, gone, gone beyond. Does somebody at some point decide that you are no longer capable of voting? Or, maybe, so long as you are aware there is an election going on and think to request a ballot, can you still get one even if you are 95? Some elderly are still capable of decision making, even if their physical form is sagging a bit. Hey, my hubby is a emergency medical care provider, and last year he lost a lovely woman, she had been his patient for the last few years. She was 105 1/2 years old! But, I swear this woman had every brain cell she was born with. I'd see her when I was out shopping, and she always recognised me instantly, even though we were only casually aquainted...she could recall the last time we met, and what we said, in converstation she never seemed to forget. She was still sharp as a tack but probably nobody assisted her in obtaining or casting a ballot in the last 35 years of her life. Now I witnessed what happens to your right to vote if you fall ill and have a medical emergency, but I am still wondering what happens to your right to vote as you become elderly?