Family alleges Owasso nursing home changed voter party affiliation for dementia patient

by Tanya Modersitzki

Family alleges Owasso nursing home changed voter party affiliation for dementia patient (KTUL)

OWASSO, OKLA (KTUL) — A man with dementia at an Owasso nursing home allegedly had his voting party changed by staff without permission from his guardians.

With just 10 days left to register to vote, a family said they caught this in time after they saw staff at The Highlands Nursing Home switch their loved one's party affiliation.

The Family said this isn't about party, but rather avoiding election fraud.

As November elections are coming up fast and the deadline to register is days away, Tracy Hopkins' family said they're worried about how many other people in nursing homes who can't make their own decisions have this happening.

"I thought heck, he's not going to be able to vote. He's incapacitated. He can't do it. He can't logically take all the information and make a decision," Randall Newberry, Tracy's brother, said.

Newberry said his brother suffered from a stroke some years back and recently was diagnosed with dementia. That's when Tracy's parents, who are his legal guardians, put him in The Highlands Nursing Home.

In July, Newberry said he went to visit his brother and said this letter was on the table saying Tracy's party affiliation was changing.

"He had just been put in the facility 6 months or 8 months prior. I just thought they were trying to catch up to him. I didn't know if it was phishing or what it was," he said.

Then this past weekend, Newberry went to visit his brother and saw Tracy's voter registration card with his new party affiliation.

He said Tracy legally and medically cannot make those decisions and he's down to responding in one-word answers. Newberry said recently, his brother was given six months to live.

News Channel 8 spoke with Terrance Gibson with The Highlands. He said staff, every election year, ask residents if they'd like to register to vote.

He said the Tulsa County Election Board didn't let them know Tracy was already registered in Mayes County to move over his information.

He adds, that when his staff asked Tracy which party he wanted to be affiliated with he responded with "Democrat."

The Highlands owner, Steve, said Tracy's health capacity is low, but he believes he has the right to vote.

“We’re trying to make sure those living in a nursing facility have as much of a normal life as possible and be able to do things like voting," Steve said over the phone.

Gibson said they're working with the family to re-register him if they want to and are working with Tulsa County Election Board to double-check all 100-plus residents.

He said, “Residents, whether they’re here, at home, or at the hospital have rights. We as providers want to protect those rights and have an obligation to help them, if they choose, to register to vote and make sure they get those absentee ballots.”

This comes after Governor Kevin Stitt recently announced more than 450,000 voter registrations were removed since 2021. 5,600 were felons.

144,000 moved out of state, and 97,000 died. Stitt's office said this is to reduce voter fraud.

Voting registration ends October 11th.

The family and staff at The Highland are encouraging voters and families to double-check voter registration before the deadline. To do so go to your local election board.

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Family alleges Owasso nursing home changed voter party affiliation for dementia patient