Vol. 1 Issue 3

Get Registered!

This year Election Day falls on Tuesday, November 5th. That means that the deadline for registration is Monday, October 7th, unless you plan to vote by mail. In that case, you have until Tuesday, October 29th to apply in person for your absentee ballot application.

Can a mental health consumer vote?

Yes. Yes. And again, yes.

Mental health consumers, regardless of whether they live in a hospital or in the community, have the right to vote—with a few exceptions:

• If you’re not a citizen of the United States.

• If you’re younger than 18, you can’t vote

• If you haven’t lived in your current state and county for at least 30 days, you can’t vote there. So if you’ve moved recently, make sure you’ve re-register with your current address by Monday, October 7.

• If a judge has ordered that you are mentally incompetent, you can’t vote. That’s not the same thing as being in a hospital. Even if you are currently being treated in a hospital, you have the right to vote unless a judge has ordered that you are incompetent. And if you’re managing your mental illness in the community, with family, friends, or just on your own, you have the right to vote.

• If you are serving a sentence, or if you are on parole or probation for an indictable offense, you can’t vote. However, if you’ve served your sentence or are no longer on parole or probation, you’ve re-earned the right to vote.

Many people—both consumers and non-consumers—have tremendously wrong impressions of whether mental health consumers can vote. The fact is, we’re citizens just like everyone else, we want leaders who respond to our needs, and we’re willing to get to know the candidates and make responsible choices.

Every county in New Jersey has a county clerk’s office that handles voting in that county, in cooperation with the New Jersey Division of Elections in Trenton. If you want to get registered, or to update your address, call your county clerk and he or she will mail the form if you can’t go in person.

Will I have to say I'm a mental Health consumer?

No. The form is a breeze--just name, address, county, birthday, and signature. It NEVER asks for any confidential information, no social security numbers, no diagnoses, no criminal offenses, nothing. The right to vote is the most fundamental right in America and the form is really the simplest one the government has.

What’s the whole absentee ballot thing about?

When you sign the voter registration form, you essentially attest that you meet all the requirements for the privilege of voting. But on Election Day, you have to show up in person and again sign your name to prove that you’re the same person who registered.

If you can’t go to the polls on Election Day, you can vote in absentia. You still have to be registered by October 7th. But instead of having to physically go to the polls, you can use an absentee ballot, as long as you go in person to your clerk’s office by October 29th to pick up the application. Then you just have to make sure you mail it in time for it to arrive on Election Day.

Learn the Issues!

When candidates are on the campaign trail, they try to state their position on the most popular issues -- because they’re looking for the popular vote. Unfortunately, mental health issues aren’t usually that popular, so consumer advocates work harder to find out which candidate is most likely to vote our way when an important piece of legislation comes up in Washington or Trenton.

To find out about mental health issues, join the MHANJ’s Legislative Network. We provide ongoing information (via email, newsletters, and our website) to help you understand the policies we’re advocating for and the bills we hope to push in the next Congressional or Legislative session.

For example, this year New Jersey citizens will vote for one of our Senators in Washington, D.C. and all 13 of our representatives in the House. That means we’re deciding who will represent us when Federal-level legislation comes on the floor in the next two years. One thing we can do, then, is to keep up with legislation, such as parity, TANF reauthorization, and the Housing Trust Fund, which our National Mental Health Association (NMHA) predicts will come to the floor in the next Congressional session.

And how do I find out about the candidates?

This might be easier than it sounds.

First of all, for every seat we’re voting for this November, there’s someone who already holds that seat in Washington. And most of them are seeking another term, so we call them the incumbent candidates.

This past June, an entire delegation of New Jersey mental health advocates, including 38 consumers, visited with every incumbent candidate. If you want to hear their opinions of the incumbents, just contact the consumers who visited them!

To find out how to reach the consumers named above, call Marie Verna at (609) 656-0110.

Every candidate will have a campaign headquarters between now and Election Day. To learn how to contact them, call your county election clerk.

Introduce yourself and explain that you’re a mental health consumer advocate. Ask the candidate the questions you have about his or her level of support for issues, such as housing, parity, treatment, welfare reform, or whatever you think is most important.

Here are some questions that we at MHANJ ask candidates when we’re trying to learn what we can expect from them. Feel free to borrow any of them:

1. What is your vision of the mental health system in New Jersey? How do you foresee funding your reforms and initiatives?

2. Do you have any experience, either personally (a family member, friend, etc.) or professionally with people with mental illness?

3. Most of the mentally disabled people in New Jersey’s communities are living in either substandard housing (e.g., group homes and boarding homes) or are indeed homeless. What steps will you take to support funding for community-based, mental health supported housing?

4. What steps will you take to increase employment opportunities for people with mental illness and promote awareness among potential employers of the abilities these individuals possess?

5. What commitment do you plan to make to children with mental illness?

6. What changes would you make to improve access to treatment for persons with a dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse?

7. Do you support insurance parity for mental health treatment?

8. We’re worried that today’s jails are becoming the new “institutions.” What will you do to improve the system so that consumers get treatment instead of punishment?

Vote!

Go to the polls and help other consumers get there.

If you vote in absentia, make sure you mail the form so that it arrives at your county clerk’s office by midnight on Election Day!