With a week remaining before the midterms, a coalition of Democratic senators is pressing Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to disclose whether his department communicated with far-right organizations that are promoting unfounded conspiracy theories about voter theft in nursing homes.
The July Memo and Election Denial Campaigns
In July, the agency published a memorandum revoking previous directives that outlined how nursing home personnel could assist residents with mail-in ballots or transport them to voting booths. The updated memo substituted those instructions with warnings of legal action if workers participate in improper coercion or other breaches of resident rights. Building on this document, election denial organizations began spreading assertions last month that fraudulent voting was occurring within care facilities.
According to reporting by WIRED, this campaign was led by the Election Integrity Network, headed by former Donald Trump adviser Cleta Mitchell. During an appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room program, Mitchell claimed that left-wing organizations enter care facilities and essentially steal the votes of vulnerable residents.
Drawing on WIRED’s investigation, a group of senators comprising Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Alex Padilla, Mazie Hirono, Ron Wyden, Kirsten Gillibrand, Jeff Merkley, and Cory Booker sent a correspondence to CMS requesting the immediate retraction of the July memorandum and the restoration of voting guidelines from 2020 and 2024.
“This is as low as it gets,” Warren told WIRED. She added that unfounded allegations of election fraud from the administration are motivating groups to harass seniors and staff, urging lawmakers to defend fair elections and seniors’ voting rights.
A CMS representative declined to answer inquiries regarding interactions with election denial factions, directing WIRED to the July document instead.
Demands for Transparency and Previous Correspondence
The lawmakers’ letter specifically questions Oz regarding potential exchanges between CMS and Mitchell, the Election Integrity Network, and a New York-based election denial entity called Project Civica. The signatories demand that Oz list every participating group and person, the timing and substance of those interactions, and any suggestions submitted to the agency. Mitchell, the Election Integrity Network, and Project Civica did not reply to requests for statements.
Senator Warren previously wrote to Oz in August to challenge the July policy shift and request its reversal. Oz replied in September, addressing the directives that had been removed from the agency website regarding voting assistance for residents.
“Providing neutral logistical assistance, such as helping a resident request a mail-in ballot completing a ballot per the resident’s own expressed wishes, or arranging transportation to a polling location, is not the type of conduct that would give rise to a voter fraud investigation,” Oz wrote in that response.
Highlighting an apparent discrepancy, the senators asked why CMS has refused to reinstate former guidance that explicitly defines nursing home obligations in supporting resident voting rights.
As the midterm elections approach, unverified theories concerning ballot manipulation continue to spread. On Tuesday, Donald Trump stated he would accept the midterm results if the elections are honest, while his administration has spent months circulating claims about mail-in ballots and noncitizen voting.
