Letter to Congress: Ensure the Right to Vote Without Risking Health

On July 22, 2020, the Consortium and 53 partner organizations released a letter asking Congress to take action to ensure all Americans have the right to vote without risking their health this fall.

You can read the full letter and view the signers here. 

As health professionals, we know that it will take many months – likely beyond election day, 2020 – before life is fully back to normal in the U.S. There will be no COVID-19 vaccine prior to election day. While we do not yet know how the COVID-19 virus will respond to seasonal weather changes, it is possible that there will be a resurgence of infections in the fall, placing people at even greater risk. This means that millions of people at highest risk (e.g. older people and those with a wide variety of pre-existing medical conditions) will still need to maintain vigorous physical distancing routines at the time of the election

No American should ever be forced to choose between their health and their right to vote. We must ensure that every state is required to implement a vote-by-mail option before the 2020 presidential election, and is provided funding to do so in a careful and fair manner. This is the only way to protect voters and poll workers from COVID-19. It is the only way to ensure a free, fair, secure, safe, and healthy election.

Our voices as individuals and organizations on this issue are powerful and necessary. Whether on behalf of your organization or as an individual, take time today to contact your federal and state elected officials to let them know that a universal vote-by-mail option this November is a public health imperative.

Here are the steps you can take to ensure a fair and healthy election: 

1. Find out where your state stands on universal vote-by-mail using this state-by-state scorecard

2. Find the contact info for your state and federal representatives using this database: https://myreps.datamade.us/

3. Use this form email (or call and use it as a script!) to tell them that we need a universal vote-by-mail option this November.

4. Use this toolkit to educate your followers on social media on why universal vote-by-mail is a health issue.

5. Health care providers across all role groups (RNs, MDs, PAs, LICSWs) and across all specialties can help get their patients registered to vote with our VotER badge backers which are created and shipped at no cost to providers. It’s as simple as giving your patient the QR code and letting them scan it on their phone.  Get your free badge backer today!