Election denial groups launch campaign targeting nursing homes ahead of midterms

In the weeks before the upcoming midterm elections, the Election Integrity Network—headed by Cleta Mitchell—has begun mobilizing its base to question nursing homes and assisted-living facilities about alleged voter-fraud activities by left-wing groups. Mitchell referenced a 2020 Wisconsin incident where a sheriff claimed eight residents had their ballots filled out, a claim rejected by the state election commission and far exceeding the margin by which Donald Trump lost the state.

The network distributes a downloadable toolkit and social-media images that identify care homes in competitive congressional districts in states such as Arizona, California, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Virginia, labeling residents as “vulnerable” targets. A similar initiative, called “Adopt a Care Facility,” is being run by Project Civica, which also points to questionable absentee-application cases in New York. The effort coincides with a July CMS memo that removed prior guidance allowing staff to help residents vote, replacing it with warnings of prosecution for coercion, a move condemned by senators Elizabeth Warren and Alex Padilla as disenfranchising. While the groups claim widespread fraud, no proven cases have emerged, and the campaigns aim to sow doubt about the integrity of the voting process among the elderly.