Washington, DC (September 9, 2008) House Administration Committee Chairman Robert A. Brady applauded today’s policy reversal by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The newly implemented policy allows state and local election officials and non-partisan groups to access VA facilities to assist officials in registering veteran voters who are receiving care. The newly announced policy revises a prior VA directive that prohibited these groups from providing registration assistance to VA facility residents.
“The recent policy change implemented by the VA and Secretary James B. Peake acknowledges the importance of ensuring that every reasonable effort is made to ensure that our veterans have full and unrestricted access to the electoral process,” said Brady. “State and local election officials and non-partisan groups play an invaluable role in empowering and enfranchising voters. Prohibiting their access was a terrible misjudgment and I am pleased that it has been corrected.”
The new policy requires that voter registration information be posted in VA facilities. It also requires that patients receive documentation outlining their voting and registration rights upon their admission.