How residents of assisted-living facilities are voting in this year’s election

Senior citizens make up an important group of people voting in this year's election. According to census data, nearly 20% of all people in the Coachella Valley are aged 65 years old or older, which is roughly 5% more than the whole of Riverside County.

For seniors who live in assisted-living facilities, their options for voting are the same as other citizens, though the way they choose to exercise their right to vote may look a little different.

Several assisted-living centers across the Coachella Valley have opened as early-voting centers. Those include the The Carlotta in Palm Desert, The Palms at La Quinta, and Trilogy at La Quinta.

At The Palms, poll workers express the joy they've had helping senior residents cast their ballots.

"You know, everybody has a place in this world and they they get a vote. And she wanted to vote and she voted. And I helped her do it. And we became friends," recounts Mary Reddington, one of the volunteer election officers at the vote center.

Election officials do everything they can to make voting accessible for voters of all ages.

Reddington explains, "We may have to help them, you know, because many of them are in wheelchairs and have different other difficulties. And so we're all here to make that the easiest thing for them. So that's what we do and we have a good time doing it."

Inside the vote center at The Palms are everything you would normally expect in a vote center, but with a slight twist – since it's inside the assisted living facility, it comes with a kitchen and a fireplace, making it feel a lot more homely than other voting centers.

But electronic voting machines, as well as pen-and-paper ballots, and a ballot drop-off box, are all inside, too.

Most seniors living at The Palms chose to cast their ballot by mail this year. "That's the only way I can vote. But if we knew this [vote center] was coming, maybe we would have voted here," says Lois Samson, a resident of The Palms, with a chuckle.

But for others, this voting center allowed them to vote, especially since finding transportation to a different vote center would have been difficult.

"Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to vote. A lot of us don't have means of transportation to go anywhere or somebody to come and get us," says Lauralee Howard, another resident at The Palms, who cast her ballot in-person.

For management of The Palms, making sure their residents are able to exercise their right to vote is important.

Amber Legowski, the Vibrant Life Director at The Palms Assisted Living and Memory Care, explains, "The aging population still plays a significant role in the community, and we should give them just as much opportunity as anybody else.”