November 08, 2012
In the Media
Pro Bono Scrambles to Secure Right to Vote of Patients on a 'Wild
and Crazy' Election Day
By John Caher
New York Law Journal
November 8, 2012
Excerpt:
Elizabeth Mathewson describes herself as "one of those
people who'd vote if there was a dog catcher election." So when she
was suddenly hospitalized on Long Island just before the election
and too late to get an absentee ballot, she went on a
mission.
***
Ultimately, Mathewson connected with a Great Neck lawyer,
Michael Sean Weinstock, whose close friend was in the hospital and
wanted to vote. The friend, Lee Ielpi is a retired fire chief whose
son was killed during the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
Weinstock figured that in addition to Ielpi, president of the
9/11 Tribute Center and Museum, there would probably be lots of
potentially disenfranchised people in the medical center,
especially in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. He put in two full days
of pro bono reaching out to patients and collecting applications,
and brought about 15 of them to the Nassau County Board of
Elections, where he ran into a roadblock.