Nursing home residents have a right to vote. This mother and daughter won’t be intimidated.

Cindy Napolitan and her daughter Melissa have multiple sclerosis, a degenerative condition in which the immune system attacks the brain, spinal cord and nerves. They have lived together at a nursing home in Mesquite, Texas, for nine years. In previous elections, Cindy and Melissa Napolitan voted by mail, but this year they took an unusual step: They voted in person.

They worried their mail-in ballots — and even their in-person votes — may not be counted. I’ve never worried that I don’t have the proper ID. I’ve never worried that somebody is going to intimidate me.

Will I encounter somebody that’s going to threaten me or make me feel less than? So yeah, I’m very worried, and I shouldn’t be,” Cindy Napolitan said. This is the 19th Amendment.

I’m allowed to vote.” Nursing home residents are guaranteed the right to vote. Around two-thirds of all nursing home residents in the United States are women, making aging and long-term care gendered issues. There is no data on how many nursing home residents exercise that right.

Cindy, 70, and Melissa Napolitan, 48, at least, feel like they’ve had good experiences with voting at their facility. Cindy Napolitan, in particular, has worked with the activities coordinator to organize rides to the polls for her, her daughter and other interested residents. So in case there are any issues that we come across, we still have time to rectify the situation and be allowed to vote,” Cindy Napolitan said.

Cindy and Melissa Napolitan are more concerned this year than in previous years about government interference and voter suppression. Their fears are not unfounded: Experts and advocates for the rights of nursing home residents, older adults and people with disabilities are worried too. In July, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rescinded previous guidance affirming that nursing home residents have the right to vote.