Why voting matters.
For most of human history, people did not get to participate in elections.
2020 is the 100
th anniversary of the 19
th Amendment, and the 55
th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. The 19
th Amendment prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex. The 1965 Voting Rights Act prohibits racial discrimination in voting. The history of the 20
th century is the defense, large and small, of the importance of the democratic process. In many regions of the USA, it is not easy to vote, despite the Voting Rights Act, the 19
th Amendment, and the stated belief that voting is important. We should remember that the right to vote is also the responsibility to vote; this responsibility includes helping people to vote.
The United States has been appropriately praised for its vast democracy, but it does not do an outstanding job at helping many citizens vote. The United States has low voter participation by
international standards.
Voter turnout in the U.S.A. for registered voters is excellent; but only 70% of voting age citizens are registered to vote, and only 61% of voting age citizens did so in 2016. Voting requirements in California include being a U.S. citizen and a California resident and are described
here. Voter registration closes in California
15 days before the November 3rd general election on October 19, 2020.
Why should this matter to health systems?
Civic participation, especially voting, has been shown to improve self-reported
subjective health status and improves
secondary health benefits for patients. The direct
relationship between health and voting is complicated; poor health is associated with lower rates of voting. Early evidence suggests that voting can improve individual health outcomes; and
voting improves the social determinants of health.
Why should this matter to health care workers?
Health care workers have
professional responsibilities that encourage us to engage in activities and processes beyond our clinical environment. Civic participation adds meaning to our work,
empowering the people that we serve.
This week
on the Insider, UC Davis Health has joined a large number of institutions across the country in the
VotER initiative, established by
Alister Martin, MD, an emergency physician in Boston. VotER is a nonpartisan effort to increase voter registration in patients visiting health systems. Many
medical schools are already participating (and engaged in a little healthy competition), and the Emergency Department at UC Davis Health has been participating for the last month.
It is critical that we register patients to vote in a non-partisan manner. This process is completely voluntary. You can't tell patients who to vote for or which party to support ; you can't make statements that may lead a patient to believe you will not care for them unless they register. Here are some suggested nonpartisan
scripts. As a 501c3 organization, UC Davis can
facilitate non-partisan voter registration. Here is a great video on general advocacy, including voter registration, from
UCSF.
For further information, please contact your department chair, director or manager for further instructions on your VotER participation.
Happy
National Voter Registration Day! (4
th Tuesday in September)
UC Davis Health clinicians are invited to attend the
Managing Mood with Mindfulness virtual program. It will improve self-care, communication skills and optimize patient care delivery through the practice of mindfulness. Please register by Monday, October 12th or send further questions to clinicianwellbeing@ucdavis.edu.
