(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, has launched an inquiry into a controversial nonprofit leading an effort to register voters nationwide across several hospitals, the Washington Examiner reported on Tuesday,
Roy is requesting information about potential safeguards to block the registration of individuals ineligible to vote in the United States, including illegal aliens.
Vot-ER, a Boston-based nonprofit, is spearheading what it claims is a nonpartisan effort to register medical patients at taxpayer-funded hospitals, including the Athens Neighborhood Health Center, Indiana Health Centers and Mariposa Community Health Center.
The group came under fire after the Examiner reported that it was funded by “Democratic-allied dark money groups” and staffed by alleged leftist activists. The nonprofit reportedly uses the healthcare software company Epic Systems to streamline its voter registration efforts.
In a letter addressed to Vot-ER Director Aliya Bhatia and Epic CEO Judith Faulkner, Roy wrote, “I write today with concerns regarding joint voter registration efforts undertaken by your respective organizations.”
Roy added, “Specifically, as evidence non-citizens have illegally registered to vote in federal elections mounts throughout the country, I write to inquire about the steps your organizations are taking to ensure non-citizens do not register to vote under your joint effort.”
Vot-ER, a group behind a sprawling voter registration effort ahead of the '24 election, is facing an investigation led by @chiproytx over concerns about non-citizen voting@dcexaminer reported in May on Vot-ER's ties to the White House/funding from left-wing dark money groups pic.twitter.com/JYtgIenEey
— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) August 20, 2024
Roy requested information regarding the total number of voters registered by the entities. He also demanded the turnover of documentation on whether any non-citizens had attempted to register.
Also central to Roy’s inquiry are concerns that Vot-ER may be inadvertently registering individuals who might not be so sound-minded during their medical visits.
The groups claimed to have offered voter registration to over 305 million patients nationwide.
In one video, Vot-ER trained potential healthcare providers on “what to do if your patient shares that they are undocumented.”
In the video, Vot-ER’s Bhatia and a doctor role-played how to persuade illegal aliens to pressure their citizen family members to register to vote.
According to the Examiner, Vot-ER is part of a broader effort tied to an executive order by President Joe Biden, which seeks to use federal facilities as voter registration hotspots.
The outlet reported on alleged Freedom of Information Act documents linking Vot-ER to the order, noting that two Vot-ER staffers attended a 2021 meeting with Biden officials on how to best implement the order.
Neither Bhatia nor the company’s communications director, Brooke Wojdynski, responded to Headline USA’s request for comment before the publication of this article. An email to Faulkner also went unanswered.
