Nursing homes voting misinformation cites CMS rules to push claims
Election-denial groups are urging followers to call care homes over unproven fraud claims, and senators now want to know whether CMS talked to them first.
The Election Integrity Network claims without evidence that left-wing groups steal nursing home residents' votes, and urges followers to contact facilities.
The groups point to a July 2026 CMS memo that dropped guidance on helping residents vote and warned staff of prosecution.
CMS administrator Mehmet Oz later wrote that neutral help, like arranging a ride to the polls, would not prompt a fraud investigation.
Democratic senators asked CMS in late October to restore the old guidance and reveal any contact with the groups.
Quick read · 2 min
Election-denial groups led by the Election Integrity Network are telling followers to call and email nursing homes, claiming without evidence that left-wing groups steal residents' votes. They've shared toolkits and maps of care homes in competitive districts.
The groups point to a July 2026 memo from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that removed guidance on helping residents vote and warned staff about prosecution. But the memo's examples led to no proven fraud, and CMS administrator Mehmet Oz later wrote that neutral help, like a ride to the polls, wouldn't trigger an investigation.
About 2 million Americans live in nursing homes.
Democratic senators want the memo withdrawn and the old guidance restored.
They've also asked CMS to reveal any contact with the groups.
If a relative lives in a care home, check how the facility helps residents vote and use official election office information.
In the final weeks before the midterms, some election-denial groups have been sending their followers a new kind of homework: call your local nursing home and ask about how residents vote. The campaign rests on claims, made without evidence, that left-wing groups are stealing the votes of older and disabled people in care facilities.
If you have a parent or grandparent in a nursing home, this story touches you directly. About 2 million Americans live in nursing homes, and many rely on staff to request a mail-in ballot or get a ride to the polls. Staff who fear being accused of fraud may simply stop helping. The claims spread fast online through ready-made toolkits and shareable graphics, which is why this is also a story about how misinformation travels.
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Who is behind the nursing homes voting misinformation
The push is led by the Election Integrity Network, founded by Cleta Mitchell, a former adviser to President Donald Trump. On Steve Bannon’s War Room show, Mitchell claimed that left-wing groups go into nursing homes and group homes and steal residents’ votes. She offered no proof of that.
Her main example was a 2020 case in Wisconsin, where a sheriff alleged that eight care home residents had their ballots filled in for them. The Wisconsin Election Commission rejected those claims. Mitchell suggested the case could have cost Trump the 2020 election, but Trump lost Wisconsin that year by more than 20,000 votes.
A second group, the New York-based Project Civica, runs a similar campaign called “Adopt a Care Facility.” Its president, Kim Hermance, said the group does not assume a facility has done wrong just because residents need help voting, but pointed to people over 85 in New York records who appeared to vote for the first time shortly before an election. She acknowledged that this is not illegal on its own.
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How the campaign spreads online
The Election Integrity Network asks followers to download a toolkit from its website, then phone and email nursing homes near them. It also supplies graphics built for social media that push the idea that fraud in care homes is widespread.
One series of posts mapped care facilities in competitive congressional districts in Virginia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, California and New Hampshire. The posts described residents as vulnerable people who could be targeted by “political predators” looking for easy ballots. Mapping real facilities in tight races, and then sending strangers to call them, is what worries advocates for residents most.
CLETA MITCHELL: There are 2 things we need to do RIGHT NOW to protect the November elections:
1. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick MUST use his existing authority to oversee electronic voting systems.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that oversees nursing homes, issued a memo in July 2026. It removed earlier guidance explaining how staff could help residents vote, such as helping with mail-in ballots or driving them to a polling place. In its place, the memo warned that staff could face prosecution for inappropriate coercion or for violating residents’ rights.
The memo said CMS had heard of several cases where residents’ rights were unlawfully violated, but the examples it gave did not lead to any proven voter fraud. The groups now cite the memo as proof their claims are real.
In August, senators led by Elizabeth Warren and Alex Padilla wrote to CMS administrator Mehmet Oz, arguing the memo seemed designed to scare staff away from helping residents and would end up disenfranchising them. In September, Oz replied that neutral, practical help, like requesting a mail-in ballot for a resident, filling in a ballot according to the resident’s own wishes or arranging transport to the polls, would not lead to a voter fraud investigation. Yet the old guidance was never put back.
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What senators are demanding now
In late October, with about a week until Election Day, a group of Democratic senators wrote to Oz again. The group includes Warren, Ron Wyden, Cory Booker, Mazie Hirono, Padilla and several others. They asked CMS to cancel the July memo and restore the voting guidance it had issued in 2020 and 2024.
They also asked Oz to list any communications between CMS and Mitchell, the Election Integrity Network or Project Civica, including who was involved, when and what was recommended. A CMS spokesperson didn’t answer questions about those contacts and pointed back to the July memo. Mitchell, her network and Project Civica did not respond to requests for comment. Warren called the campaign an attack on seniors’ voting rights.
What this means for families of nursing home residents
Nursing home residents keep the same right to vote as everyone else, and Oz’s own letter says normal, neutral help is fine. If someone you love lives in a care facility, a few steps can protect their vote:
Ask the facility how it helps residents vote this year and who on staff handles it.
Help your relative request a mail-in ballot directly from the state or county election office if they prefer.
Use official state or local election websites for the rules on voting help, not social media posts.
If someone calls or visits making accusations or pressuring residents, tell the facility’s management and your local election office.
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Quick answers
Is there evidence of voter fraud in nursing homes?
No proven cases have been shown. The Wisconsin case the groups cite was rejected by the state’s election commission, and the examples in the CMS memo did not lead to proven fraud.
Can nursing home staff still help residents vote?
Yes. CMS administrator Mehmet Oz wrote that neutral help, such as requesting a mail-in ballot or arranging a ride to the polls, would not trigger a fraud investigation.
What did the CMS memo change?
The July 2026 memo removed earlier guidance on how staff could help residents vote and replaced it with warnings that coercion or rights violations could be prosecuted.
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