U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde suggests most seniors shouldn't vote

 

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde questioned whether most nursing home residents should be able to vote because they only have "five, six months life expectancy."

Hovde, who’s backed by former President Donald Trump, is the latest Republican to raise concerns about voting in nursing homes during the 2020 election after the bipartisan elections commission voted to ban special voting deputies from entering those facilities because of Covid.

During a recent interview on Fox News podcast, Hovde claimed it was suspicious that Racine County nursing homes recorded every resident voting.

"We had nursing homes where the sheriff of Racine investigated, where you had 100% voting in nursing homes," Hovde said on the Guy Benson Show.

"If you’re in a nursing home, you only have five, six-month life expectancy. Almost nobody in a nursing home is in a point to vote and you had children, adult children, showing up saying -- who voted for my 85 or 90-year-old father or mother?"

A spokesman for Hovde's campaign said his comments did not imply elderly people should not vote.

"In no manner did Eric Hovde suggest that elderly people should not vote. He was referring to specific cases in Racine County where family members raised concerns about their loved ones voting," said Ben Voelkel, a campaign spokesman for Hovde.

Hovde, who’s challenging Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, made similar remarks days prior when talking to reporters in Milwaukee about "issues" he believed occurred in 2020 but reiterated he doesn't want to relitigate the election and doesn't believe it was stolen.

"Parents of elderly parents are dying and saying, 'who voted for my parent? Who did that?' That's a legitimate question," Hovde said. "All those things need to be cleaned up. It's wrong."

Despite audits, recounts and a review by a conservative group all verifying Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump by more than 21,000 votes, voting in nursing homes has become a central focus of Republicans who have questioned the outcome.

Under state law, unless a court deems someone is incompetent to vote, "WEC has no role in determining if, when, or why," whether "an individual is incapable of understanding the objective of the electoral process and is therefore ineligible to vote."

Ann Jacobs, a Democratic who serves on the bipartisan commission, emphasized it's not an election official's job to determine whether someone is capable of voting.

"The role of a special voting deputy is not to quiz a person. It's not to try and do a mental examination," Jacobs said. "That person, if they wish to vote, unless there's a court order, has a right to vote."

While most nursing homes take care of the elderly, there are plenty of other individuals who seek care for a variety of reasons, said Rick Abrams, chief executive officer at the Wisconsin Health Care Association and Center for Assisted Living.

Abrams said regardless of someone's age or condition, everyone has the right to vote.

"The fact that someone is in a nursing home and might be in the twilight of their lives has literally nothing to do with whether they are able to exercise their constitutional right to vote," said Abrams.

Republican lawmakers have introduced a series of bills to tighten the rules around absentee voting in nursing homes, but a majority have been rejected by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers or failed to pass the GOP-controlled Legislature.

Proposals included changing an individual's voting status to inactive within two business days if they've been deemed incompetent and requiring family members to be notified when a loved one in a care facility is going to vote.

"Persons in nursing homes are not children," Jacobs said. "You don't need to be telling their relatives they are going to vote… they have a right to vote privately the same as the rest of us do."