Voting is essential to the functioning of a democracy and has implications for public health. Although national voter turnout increased from 41.9% in 2014 to 53.4% in 2018 (U.S. Census Bureau), participation in U.S. elections remains low. Registered voters hospitalized on Election Day comprise one group of adults that may have difficulty exercising their civic right to vote.

In Pennsylvania, registered voters hospitalized and unable to make it to the polls on Election Day can apply for and cast an emergency absentee ballot. However, many of these voters do not utilize this mechanism because they are unaware of its existence or due to the complexity of the process.

In advance of the 2016 U.S. elections, we launched Presby Votes, a non-partisan, interdisciplinary initiative designed to facilitate voting among registered voters hospitalized at one of the hospitals in our health system on Election Day. Since then, we have expanded the initiative to include a second hospital and renamed the program the Penn Votes Project.

In this presentation, we will provide an overview of the steps that patients must take to obtain and cast an emergency absentee ballot in Pennsylvania. We will also highlight the roles of the volunteer physicians, lawyers, nurses, health system administrators, government relations officers, medical students, law students, and nursing students who are involved in raising awareness of the Penn Votes Project and assisting patients with securing emergency absentee ballots. Finally, we will present the lessons we have learned from helping 150 patients vote in 5 U.S. elections.