ABH Guest Post: Hailey Frye + VOT-ER

Strengthening Our Democracy with VOT-ER

Hailey Frye, MS3
2023-24 Public Health Advocacy Fellowship Alumni & ABH Board Member

My first time voting was a midterm election. I remember walking into a local church – the volunteer at the front table was taken aback by my excitement to cast my ballot for a non-presidential election. When I went off to college, I applied for mail-in ballots and continued to cast my vote. Since starting medical school and seeing how politics affects our health, voting has become even more of a priority. 

Absentee ballots are an easy option to ensure education, work, and travel don’t prevent people from voting. Before the 2024 election, I assumed the mail-in/absentee ballot option was sufficient for everyone to vote if they can’t make it to the polls on Tuesday. However, while completing clinical training at Region’s hospital, I realized this is not true. Patients admitted to the hospital or in long-term rehabilitation units don’t have time to request an absentee ballot. Regions is a level-one trauma center with over 500 beds; that is a significant number of people without a clear path to voice their vote. 

With support from Dr. Rachel Dahms and Dr. Ashley Dohlen and informational resources from ABH, We Will Vote, and VOT-ER, a small group of physicians, medical students, and care coordinators approached Health Partners administrations with a plan to help patients vote. We had a limited number of volunteers, so for this trial year, we focused our efforts on patients who reside in Ramsey County. We brought informational flyers to each room and explained to patients how to vote by Agent Delivery. If the patient didn’t have anyone to be their agent, we volunteered. All day on Monday, November 4th, we hurried around the hospital asking if patients still needed to vote. For citizens of St. Paul, we faxed completed absentee ballot applications, and then representatives from the city brought their ballots on Tuesday. For others, we delivered absentee applications to the county office, brought their ballot back to Regions, and then returned completed ballots by 8 pm on election day. Patients were surprised, excited, and grateful for the chance to cast their ballot from their hospital bed. I delivered three ballots in the nick of time on election night. Every vote counts. 

Even though election season is over, I am continuing to work with HealthPartners, VOT-ER, We Will Vote, and ABH to develop an election protocol so all eligible patients can vote in future midterm and general elections.