GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Voting from a hospital bed is always tricky, and the COVID-19 pandemic makes it even more complicated, said Cheryl Stoeckigt Parra, Chief Nursing Officer for Advocate Aurora Health in Manitowoc County.
“Nobody expects to become sick or fallen in an emergency case like this," she said. "I think it’s unpredictable, but I think we’ve planned.”
With visitors not allowed, patients can't just have a family member or friend walk into the hospital with their ballot. A patient has to tell a hospital staff member that they need to vote. The patient will fill out an application for an emergency absentee ballot, then they have to choose an 'agent,' someone who can go to the clerk of courts to get their emergency ballot for them.
Once the agent has the ballot, they will bring it back to the hospital and hand it off to a hospital volunteer who will make sure the patient fills it out. Then the volunteer will return the ballot to the agent, who will then drop it off in a ballot drop box. Those agents will not be allowed inside the hospital.
“We will try to do that running for them on this side of the door, versus the other side of the door," said Stoeckigt Parra. "Part of that is just because our team members are really working on keeping our patients and everybody safe. So the least amount of traffic we can have the better.”
With all the moving parts, it might be tough to get ballots on the actual election day, she said. But it can be done.
“We are in a time of a pandemic and unexpected hospitalizations in communities and the elections has captured a lot of interest," said Stoeckigt Parra. "It’s our duty to serve.”
