Volunteers Help Hospitalized Patients Vote
Being hospitalized on Election Day is no reason not to vote, the
Los Angeles Times reports. Due to conditions ranging from childbirth to cardiac arrest, thousands of people will unexpectedly find themselves admitted to the hospital and unable to reach the polls on voting day, so Los Angeles-area hospitals are prepared to bring the ballot to them. The process of distributing and collecting absentee ballots adds to the already hectic pace in the hospital and can make any department "seem as harried as a busy emergency room." At Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood, about 100 patients are expected to participate. Ten volunteers will work all day, tracking down patients who are eligible and want to vote and then assisting those unable to read or punch the proper holes because of their medical conditions. Bonnie Rohrbaugh, director of volunteer services at Daniel Freeman, said that each year the hospital's temporary pollsters "end up turning over the ballots to the registrar's office at about two minutes" before closing time (Miller, Los Angeles Times, 11/7).