Toolkit: Voter Registration and Equitable Access to Elections

Published: 1/31/2024

ACP recognizes that voting impacts health and health care.  The College supports policies that ensure safe and equitable access to voting and encourages health care professionals and their patients to vote.

Background

In December 2023, the Annals of Internal Medicine published Ensuring Equitable Access to Participation in the Electoral Process: A Policy Brief From the American College of Physicians, which seeks to inform physicians, medical students, and other health care professionals on the links between electoral processes and health; encourage civic participation; and offer policy recommendations to support safe and equitable access to electoral participation to advance health equity for both patients and health care professionals. This paper responded to two Board of Regents-approved resolutions calling on the College to develop policy addressing partisan gerrymandering and supporting health care-sponsored voter engagement. ACP recognizes that health and electoral processes are directly connected through the institution of policies by ballot initiative, such as Medicaid expansion, and the election of officials who incorporate health into their platforms. They are also indirectly connected, as civic participation connects individuals to their community and empowers them with agency in decision making.

ACTION:

ACP is partnering with Vot-ER, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to integrate civic engagement into healthcare, to encourage members to get involved in encouraging civic participation. ACP encourages members to utilize the following resources to facilitate patient voter registration, confirm their voter registration status, and check registration and election dates in their state.

  • Sign up here to receive a free badge from Vot-ER that features a QR code that patients may scan on their mobile devices allowing them to check their registration status, update their voter records, register to vote, and/or request a mail-in ballot. The badge also allows you to track your individual impact on registering voters. that features a QR code that patients may scan on their mobile devices allowing them to check their registration status, update their voter records, register to vote, and/or request a mail-in ballot. The badge also allows you to track your individual impact on registering voters.
    • Note: The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 allows health care facilities to facilitate nonpartisan voter registration for interested patients.  Patients choose whether to use Vot-ER’s platform and when they do so, they share information on their own mobile devices. Thus, voter information is not subject to HIPAA regulations.
  • Vote.gov: Check your registration status, polling location, and register/change your registration
  • Consult this guidance from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) on Voter Registration and Health Centers for more information on permissible activities and legal requirements.
  • Watch this brief video from Vot-ER on how to initiate a conversation about voter registration with your patients.
     

Upcoming Primary and General Election Dates

View a schedule of 2024 presidential primary/caucus dates and check your state’s voter registration deadlines.

The U.S. presidential election will take place nationally on November 5, 2024. Check registration deadlines for the general election in your state.

State Activity

According to the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, state legislatures enacted an almost unprecedented number of voting-related laws in 2023, with similar expectations for 2024.  Many state legislatures are currently or will be considering legislation related to voting and elections, including some proposals that could change voting laws in advance of the 2024 elections. Some of this legislation aims to restrict ballot access, while some aims to make ballot access more accessible.

ACP policy supports the following legislative actions:

  • Holiday designations for Election Day(s)
  • Expanded polling locations and/or hours
  • Automatic Voter Registration
  • Same-day voter registration
  • The drawing of fair electoral districts by nonpartisan electoral commissions
  • Re-enfranchisement of individuals with felony convictions upon completion of their sentence

ACP policy opposes the following legislative actions:

  • Restricting access to mail-in ballots
  • Limiting polling locations and/or hours
  • Attempts at partisan gerrymandering

References