First Voter Registration Drive

Description

Wood River Health Services to hold
first voter registration drive
hope valley: To kick off its celebration of National Health Center Week, and in keeping in line with this year’s theme, “Powering Healthy Communities”, Wood River Health Services will hold its first-ever voter registration drive on Monday, Aug. 6, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Representatives fromtheSecretary of State’s office will be on hand from 10 until noon to provide voter identification cards to those who need them to meet the state’s new voter identification law. Volunteers from the League of Women Voters of South Kingstown/Narragansett will be available to assist in registering voters.
The drive was inspired by the National Campaign for America’s Health Centers’ Community Health Vote movement, according to Wood River Health Services Development Coordinator David Henley.
“Voting is good for your health,” Henley said. “That was the message that came out of the latest Health Center Policy and Issues Forum in Washington.
“Community health and civic engagement have been linked from the start of the health center movement,” Henley said. “One of the cornerstones that health centers are built on is the empowering of the people we serve, and voting is one of the ways we can all exercise what power we possess. We’ve certainly seen in recent years how a few votes one way or another can affect the entire course of events, locally, nationally and even world-wide.”
The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, known as the “Motor Voter” Act, encourages agencies receiving federal funding to make voter registration available, and requires those that provide certain types of public assistance, such as the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) offices at Wood River Health, to pro-actively offer registration to their clients.
“Community Health Centers like Wood River Health have a unique position in their communities that could allow them to greatly increase voter participation among a segment of the population that is typically under-represented in elections,” Henley said. “And in the current economy, it wouldn’t hurt to have plenty of voters out there who understand health centers and how important they are to the communities they serve.”
Any United States citizen above the age of 16 may register to vote. In Rhode Island, identification such as a driver’s license, passport, or military or other government-issued photo id must be shown at the polling place to vote. The health center will collect and deliver registrations for voters of the Chariho area, Westerly and Hopkinton to their respective town halls and will deliver any others to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Rhode Island does not permit online voter registration, but anyone wishing to take a registration form with them to fill out later and submit by mail may do so.
The deadline for registering to be eligible to vote in this year’s September 11 primary elections is August 12; the deadline for the November 6 General Election is October 7.
Wood River HealthServices is a non-profit, full-service Community Health Center serving southwestern Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut, providing primary and family medical and dental care and a nationally recognized chronic disease management program, as well as social services, nutrition counseling, WIC program and a food pantry.
The center also provides behavioral and mental health counseling. Lab testing, including blood work, x-ray and mammography, is available on-site in cooperation with Westerly Hospital.
Sliding scale payments are available to those who qualify.
Wood River Health Services is located at 823 Main St., Hope Valley (on Route 3 south of the village, just off Route I-95 at Exit 2). For more information, call Development Coordinator David Henley at (401) 387-9628 or visit the web site at www.woodriverhealthservices.org.