Right to vote not taken for granted
Many people take their right to vote for granted, but that’s often not the case for those suffering from mental illnesses.
This year, Harmony House supporters hope to change the perception that those with a mental illness will shy away from voting. They offered an exercise in simple democracy Wednesday, which brought together Harmony House consumers and even a few political candidates.
“We want our consumers to learn how important it is to vote and how they can have a say in what happens in this country and in this town,” Director Joy Prater said. “But they’ve got to be responsible and vote.”
Prater said advocates learned of the idea at a conference they attended and decided to turn the idea into a local reality. And for many there, after a briefing by Elections Administrator Donna Yates, the exercise proved fruitful.
“In the future, it will help them to vote by themselves,” Harmony House consumer Richard Graham said after Yates’ briefing.
“This will be my first time to vote. I learned that being elected to office is a privilege. I had never voted before and I watched coverage of the election on television and became fascinated about it. Now I can do it. I’m disabled and I want to show people I can do it, too,” he added.
Consumer Therese Hudson was so excited about the event, she brought a friend.
“This is the first time she’s been to Harmony House and she wasn’t sure about the voting machines,” Hudson said of the friend, noting since an election worker has explained the intricacies of the voting machines to her, she understands better as well.
“Some of this I didn’t know, like the write-in candidate,” Hudson added. She also took the time to change her address so problems won’t arise come election time.
Yates accepted registration forms while advocates helped to get names and addresses correct and encouraged the newly-registered not to get frustrated by the sometimes-imposing voting machines when voting for real.
Harmony House, located at 801 Morrison Road, will provide transportation to the polls in August and November and during other elections. Throughout the year, Harmony House provides services to those who use mental health services in the form of education, socialization and support groups.
For more information about voting and voter registration, contact the Warren County Election Commission at 473-5834 or 473-9526.