Making It Easier for Older Americans to Voter with Attorney Joan Bondareff

Disclaimer: Unedited AI trranscript

Larry (00:07):

You are listening to specifically for Seniors, a podcast designed for a vibrant and diverse senior community. I'm your host, Dr. Larry Barsh. Join me in a lineup of experts as we discuss a wide variety of topics that will empower, inform, entertain, and inspire as we celebrate the richness and wisdom of this incredible stage of life.

Larry (00:40):

According to Senator Bob Casey, the ranking member of the Special Committee on Aging quote, the right to vote is one of the fundamental pillars of a democracy, but that right is under attack for millions of older Americans across the nation, attempts to limit voting location, the length of early voting periods, inaccessible voting locations, and new strict voter identification laws threaten the hard won voting rights of older Americans. So we asked our guest today on specifically for seniors attorney Joan Bondra, to explain what can be done to make it easier for older adults to register and vote. Joan is special counsel at Blank Rome Government Relations LLC. She primarily focuses her practice on marine transportation, environmental, regulatory, renewable energy, and legislative issues. Joan served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law School and as an adjunct professor at American University, Washington College of Law. Joan is a member of the American Bar Association Center for Excellence in Elder Law and Dimension. Joan, welcome to specifically for seniors.

Joan Bondareff (02:24):

Thank you very much, Larry. I appreciate the invitation, especially on such an important issue with the election coming up so soon, and I'm happy to speak about voting rights for seniors. To your audience,

Larry (02:40):

Evidence has shown that older voters are more likely to vote than younger voters. Why is this?

Joan Bondareff (02:50):

I think that's a good question. I'm not sure even a A RP has a specific documented answer to this, but on the other hand, they've indicated in recent and past reports that seniors are more likely to vote and they expect that there's going to be a high percentage of seniors over the age of voting, particularly this year. Personally, I think it's because of economic issues. And again, A A RP says economic issues are a primary concern this year to all voters, but particularly to seniors. When you think about it with Social security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, all on the line for reauthorization and potential cuts depending on the change at the White House and in the Congress, it's perfectly understandable that seniors would vote and would understand that it's in their own economic interest to do so.

Larry (03:49):

Talking about the A A RP, the, the A RP has recently said that older voters will decide elections at every level from the White House to city and county councils. And yet as Senator Casey has stated, there have been attempts to limit the ability of seniors to vote. There have been a lot of barriers established. Can you explain some of those?

Joan Bondareff (04:19):

Yeah, I agree with Senator Casey. It's more of a challenge, I think in some states for all of us to vote. There are confusing laws in the states about voting IDs, for example. And there are challenges ongoing now in the states to who can vote, how can you vote whether you can use a mail-in ballot where the mail-in ballot deposit boxes are located. But particularly when it comes to IDs, there's much confusion and even litigation. We do have a federal system of government, but when it comes to voting, all of the control is really at the state and local level. So I think the barriers, some of them are self-imposed and some of them are imposed by external forces. For example, the self-imposed, I've been talking lately to Uber drivers and people in my office, some people in the halls, some people I meet everywhere.

Joan Bondareff (05:15):

I don't ask them how they're gonna vote, I just ask them whether they're going to vote. And I'm discouraged by the number of people, including older voters who say, it doesn't matter and I'm not going to vote. So there's some lethargy involved in, in not voting, but also there are external barriers as well. As I mentioned, state laws are changing all the time about identification. State laws are changing when it comes to mail-in ballots. State laws change when it comes to early registration. So some of the barriers are self-imposed. That's 'cause people don't wanna get up and go to the polls and others are external because restrictions that states have imposed on voting and early voting especially.

Larry (06:05):

Why do you think that happens?

Joan Bondareff (06:08):

Well, I think it happens because only a few people are paying attention to it. And I think hopefully one of the purposes of this podcast is bring to the attention of seniors in your audience, how important it is to track what states and local governments are doing, and to get involved as much as possible to be a poll worker, to be a poll watcher, to go to election board meetings and see what the changes in the rules are. And also to make sure that you're getting your friends and neighbors out to vote. Including giving rides to seniors who don't have another way to get to the polls.

Larry (06:49):

Both the A A RP and the League of Women Voters have made some suggestions to make it easier to vote. Can you describe some of those?

Joan Bondareff (07:04):

I actually wrote down a list for some of them 'cause I wanna be accurate about what have said. So these are from the A A RP suggestions to enable easier voting for seniors, allow same day voter registration, open additional polling locations, establish and validate more vote by mail programs, allow early voting. Those are some of the principle A A RP recommendations. And then the League of Women Voters, which is concerned about voting across the board, has a further list, which includes automatic voter registration, online voter registration, multilingual voting resources, extended polling hours, mail-in voting, encouraged early voting, encouraged expanded polling locations and relaxed ID requirements. Of course, we know the country seems to be going in the opposite direction when it comes to ID requirements and the imposition of the new REAL ID driver licenses, I think has added to that confusion.

Larry (08:16):

I am particularly concerned about those seniors who were living in skilled nursing facilities and, and have problems with cognition and access to voting and understanding how important their vote is. Are there any solutions that are being applied to those in in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities?

Joan Bondareff (08:48):

I think we have policies that A A RP and others have advocated, but I'm not sure we've solved the problems of access to voting for individuals living in senior facilities or in nursing facilities for that matter. A A RP again, HA has says they advocate on behalf of 1.4 million individuals who live in skilled nursing homes and they advocate for allowing proxies, for example, to return votes for citizens living in those facilities. But of course, you would have to establish a cognition and put some safety requirements around the proxy votings. It turns out that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has rules on voting in nursing homes as well for nursing homes, specifically the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as regulations that guarantee that residents living in those facilities have the right to exercise their rights and have the right to exercise them without interference, coercion, discrimination, or reprisal from the facility. So I think the laws and regulations are on the books, but it would take further analysis to make sure that they're actually implemented

Larry (10:08):

And Congress has tried to help America vote through the years, but it seems a little sluggish starting with President Bush and the Help America Vote Act. What is Congress trying to do?

Joan Bondareff (10:30):

Yeah, as I mentioned earlier, we have a federal system of all kinds of government in our country, but the federal government and the US Congress does have some responsibility to level the playing field and make sure that there's equal access to voting. Of course, the prominent voting laws that Congress has passed over the years are the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and 1965, which guarantee rights of all citizens, all individuals, including all minorities to vote over the years. Unfortunately, some of these laws have been weakened through Supreme Court interpretations and Supreme Court rulings that say, maybe we don't need these protections anymore. But those, of course, those laws don't specifically apply to seniors. On the other hand, as you mentioned, president Bush did sign into law the hava, which is the Help America Vote Act, and that provides for responsibilities granted to the Department of Just Justice as well as an independent election commission to guarantee that seniors, particularly seniors with disabilities, have the right to vote and, and have protected access to, to voting facilities and make sure there are no physical or other barriers to those individuals voting. Probably those laws are not as well funded as we would like to see them, to make sure the policy directions, which are good in those laws are fairly implemented

Larry (12:07):

And they've been all that original H HFA Act has been altered by Bob Casey, Casey and Amy Klobuchar in 2021.

Joan Bondareff (12:22):

Well, yes and Senator Casey of Pennsylvania has introduced legislation this year, which is pending in the Senate with two committees, including his own Select Committee on Aging and the Amendments to Hava would grant further funding to this independent Election Assistance Commission, make sure that there is adequate grant funding to go out to the states to reduce barriers to voting. The last time I checked this legislation, which is known as the Accessible Voting Act of 2024 or S3 7 4 8, there are a growing number of sponsors who have signed on to Casey and Klobuchar legislation. Last I checked, there are probably about 15 co-sponsors, which is a very good sign. And if you look at the Aging Committee website or just Google S3 7 4 8, you will see the sponsors and you also see who the contact people are at the Aging Committee that you can write to and indicate your support for this important legislation to expand the protections of the help access to, to Vote Act. And I recommend that seniors listening to this podcast write to their senators and even their representatives to say that we would like this legislation enacted before the end of this hundred 18th Congress.

Larry (13:51):

So have any of these legislations been actually passed?

Joan Bondareff (13:57):

Not the new laws as far not the New Amendments to Hava as far as I can tell. I didn't have a chance yet to look up what the funding is for this Election Assistance Commission or the Department of Justice, which has responsibility to implement these laws. But I know that they are in a position to enforce these laws and even go to court if necessary. So funding, you can authorize a program more readily that you can find adequate appropriations for it. At the end of this Congress, there will be final funding for all of the departments and agencies likely in multiple appropriation bills. So we should definitely keep track to see how these laws are actually implemented through adequate funding.

Larry (14:47):

The upcoming election, as you mentioned at the beginning of this podcast, is probably one of the most consequential in history. What can we do? I mean, aside from this podcast trying to do what, what can we do to help?

Joan Bondareff (15:07):

I, I wrote myself a little list of things that I would recommend seniors do. First of all, of course, you have to get yourself up and out and vote. You have to find out where your polling place is. You have to remember to bring your current driver's license to the polling place. And you also can request a mail-in ballot in many states so you can you don't have to get outta the house and all you have to do is go to the mailbox with your mail-in ballot. And these are, are, have been proven to be quite secure now and are allowed in most states as part of early voting. I think the other thing we can all do is offer rides to seniors and our neighbors to get to the polls. I noticed that Lyft, for example, they had, they had a program starting a couple years ago for ride sharing coupons for seniors.

Joan Bondareff (16:04):

And now they've continued and expanded that program this year, and they have donated ride sharing code codes for seniors to several nonprofit organizations including the N-A-A-C-P the national Negro Council for Women, et cetera. The other thing you can do is look at your talk to your local political party regardless which one it is. And they usually have a list of individuals and seniors who may need help getting to the polls. So we, we all have to be active citizens to protect our rights to vote. And seniors, especially for whom this is a really critical election.

Larry (16:49):

How, how do seniors get these Lyft coupons?

Joan Bondareff (16:53):

Well, right, Lyft was handing them out two individuals last year, but I noticed this year what they've done is they have provided them to certain nonprofit organization. So you would have to go through one of those nonprofit organizations in order to benefit from a lift sharing code. But I know for myself, exa for example when my partner who was a senior was alive and, and wanted to go places, I would actually order the lift for him and indicate where he should be picked up and where he should be dropped off. And this is something you can do for your elderly neighbors as well as driving them yourself. You can literally order a Lyft ride or an Uber ride for them in advance.

Larry (17:44):

You mentioned mail-in ballots. There's been some discussion online about the reliability of the mail service to deliver balance. Do you have any feelings about that?

Joan Bondareff (17:58):

I think the u Us Post service has gone on record saying that they don't anticipate any problems. But mail imbalance I guess are a recent phenomena have become controversial with some of the political candidates. And early on, I think for example, the Republican Party thought that mail-in ballots were a good thing because they wanted seniors to use this mechanism and vote. And then the Republican candidate this year has, has issued mixed statements about the accuracy and reliability of mail-in ballots. But I think myself, I think that it's a, a reasonable way to get your ballot to your polling place on time. And I would support them.

Larry (18:46):

Is there anything else that we should be including in this discussion?

Joan Bondareff (18:52):

It's a right, you know what I tell everybody, and I, as I said at the beginning, I never tell anybody who to vote for. I just say it's a right and a privilege in this country to vote. Every once in a while, I will talk, for example, to an Uber driver who, and I ask them, are they a citizen? And those who have become citizens recently are so excited that now they can vote. So I think, you know, if occasionally one of us takes voting for granted, that's not something we can afford to do. And recent citizens are so happy that they now have the ability to vote so like them. We should be equally enthusiastic because our future depends on it, our economy depends on it. And the economic future of seniors in particular with Medicare social security, the a CA and other health programs on the line, voting this year is more and more important for all of us, especially for seniors

Larry (19:54):

And America's standing in the world as well.

Joan Bondareff (19:58):

I I certainly agree with that.

Larry (20:01):

Joan, thank you. I, I hope we've cleared up some of the problems about seniors voting and the absolute necessity for seniors to get out and vote or to mail in their ballots but to vote.

Joan Bondareff (20:21):

I agree, Larry, thanks for the opportunity and if you have any further questions that you and your audience have about voting this year, I'm available to answer them. Thanks again for the opportunity. I've enjoyed it.

Larry (20:35):

And thank you for coming on specifically for seniors.

Joan Bondareff (20:40):

You're welcome.

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