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Alpena-area groups help voters overcome barriers

ALPENA — With aggressive voting campaigns nationwide encouraging wide participation in the upcoming presidential election — now only seven days away — many are urging voters to climb over whatever barriers to voting may be in their way to make sure their voice is heard on Election Day.

While a typical voter may have struggles enough making it to a polling place, especially in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, others face bigger obstacles — from mental illness to physical challenges to jail bars — to cast their vote.

In most cases, though, help is available, Alpena sources say — and, where there’s a will, there’s a way to vote.

At MediLodge of Greenview in Alpena, where many find outings physically difficult, residents are old hands at voting by absentee ballot, a process they’ve embraced for years, according to Activity Director Michelle Gapske.

While nationwide numbers of people voting by absentee ballot have skyrocketed this election cycle, largely in response to the coronavirus pandemic, seniors have long taken advantage of the chance to have their say without leaving home.

In a summer survey of voter registration, Gapske said she came across nobody who insisted on voting in person, and most had received absentee ballots by mail for years, she said.

People behind bars can vote if they are awaiting trial and have not been convicted. Not many do, though, according to Alpena County Jail Administrator Scott Gagnon.

Only one inmate requested an absentee ballot this year, Gagnon said. That inmate was ineligible to vote because of her conviction status, however.

At Sunrise Centre, a residential drug treatment center in Alpena where participants’ comings and goings are restricted as part of their treatment, absentee ballots have been requested and provided to several people in treatment, a representative said.

As the region’s only homeless shelter, Sunrise Mission exists to help people in a tough spot in life know they still matter — and an election is an excellent example of just that, according to Ann Williams, lead innkeeper for the mission.

“Whenever people are in crisis, they think they don’t have a voice at all,” Williams said. “We gently remind them that, yes, they do.”

Signs posted at the mission remind residents to vote, and registration help is available using the mission’s computers. The center also offers bus tokens to make sure residents can make it to a polling place, Williams said.

To help anyone in the community who needs a lift to a polling place, the Thunder Bay Transportation Authority will stay open late as long as polls are open on Election Day, according to General Manager Andre Sundin.

The number of voters requesting rides has decreased in recent years, but Sundin expects Dial-a-Ride traffic to increase this year because of public interest in the presidential election.

Additional buses are usually available during the first week of each month because many regular riders get their social security checks on the first or third day of the month, Sundin said. On the day of the election, which falls on Nov. 3, buses should be plentiful, Sundin said.

Light of Hope Clubhouse of Alpena, which offers services and employment opportunities to people with mental illness diagnoses, can’t meet in person because of pandemic-related restrictions.

That shouldn’t stop members of the clubhouse — or anyone else with mental illness — from getting the help they need to vote, said Abbey Podbielski, clubhouse director.

“It’s something they should be a part of, because, why not?” Podbielski said. “(Mental illness) has nothing to do with having a voice.”

Many clubhouse members don’t have access to computers or internet service when the clubhouse is closed, but Podbielski helps members get registered to vote over the phone, inputting their information and printing out information to help them vote absentee.

“Just because there’s a chemical imbalance in their brain doesn’t mean that they don’t want to be a part of the change and be a part of the decision-making process for the country,” said Podbielski. “It’s a basic right.”

Voting — in person or even by absentee ballot — may be challenging for someone with a physical handicap, but help is available, said Alpena Clerk Anna Soik.

On Election Day, following state election law, two election workers — representing two different political parties — will, if requested, take a ballot to the parking lot to allow someone with limited mobility to cast their vote.

Any voter filling out a ballot is allowed to ask for help from a balanced pair of election workers without giving a reason for doing so. Voters who are blind, disabled, or unable to read or write may bring a helper to assist them at the polls, within certain parameters.

To get help voting

To alert a precinct that voting assistance will be needed: 989-354-1720

To arrange dial-a-ride transportation: 989-356-4596

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