TODAY IS ELECTION DAY: VOTE AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT – BECAUSE IT DOES!

November 6, 2018

Today is Election Day! Go out and vote!

“VOTE as if your life depends on it – Because it DOES!”

A message from Yoshiko Dart

Beloved Colleagues in Justice:

I love you! Justin loved you and continues to love you!

Thank you for your important contributions to humanity every day!

Justin was a long time disability/human rights advocate.

He and I fought for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA, fought for health care for all Americans including those with preexisting conditions, and supported mental health parity, integrated employment and inclusive education and many more.

Today I need your help to get your friends, family, and other people you know to vote in this election.

Turnout will determine who will win this election. The disability community must focus our energy on turning out voters throughout the USA by millions.

We must vote for candidates that support disability/human rights and services.

Shall we do it, or remain as an ignored, powerless minority?

We are indeed a magnificent majority!

Colleagues, you/we have the power! Let us use it! Now is the time.

If we don’t, we have nobody else to blame, but ourselves.

Join me at the polls to vote on November 6th!

Justin and I love you!

Together we have overcome. Together we shall overcome. We believe in you!

Lead On!! Lead On!!

Thank you!

Yoshiko Dart

Help us spread the word:

Use the sample social media posts below to help us spread the word about the importance of voting today.

Today is Election Day! Let’s #REVUP and Get Out the DISABILITY VOTE! #DisabilityVote18

“VOTE as if your life depends on it – because it does!”
#REVUP #DisabilityVote18

Post with Justin Dart quote graphic, available here.

Tired of being ignored?
Tired of others making decisions for you?
Tired of attacks on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?

Then go vote!

#REVUP #DisabilityVote18

Past Resources to Get Out the Disability Vote

Let’s make 2018 the Year of the Disability Vote!

* * *

The REV UP Campaign, launched by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) in 2016, is a nonpartisan initiative that coordinates with national, state, and local disability organizations to increase the political participation of the disability community while also engaging candidates and the media on disability issues. The Campaign focuses on voter registration, education, access, and engagement. REV UP stands for Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power!

Whether its $10, $25, $50, $100 or $500, your support is crucial to help us show the power of the disability vote.

1 Week Until Election Day: MAKE THE DISABILITY VOTE COUNT!

October 30, 2018

Election Day is next week on Tuesday, November 6. It’s critical for people with disabilities to get out and vote to ensure that our elected officials address the issues that are important to us.

Tired of being ignored?
Tired of others making decisions for you?
Tired of attacks on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
Tired of being trapped in an institution?
Tired of long waiting lists for home- and community-based services (HCBS)?
Tired of being unemployed or paid a sub-minimum wage?
Tired of no accessible transportation?
Tired of no accessible, affordable, and integrated housing?
Tired of no Mental Health Parity?

Then go vote!

“Through grassroots efforts, political action, and people speaking out on their own behalves, meaningful change will come about.”

There are over 35 million eligible voters with disabilities based on a report of the 2016 electorate from Rutgers University. When we count voters with disabilities and family members living in the same household, that figure jumps to over 62 million eligible voters, more than 25% of the total electorate.

Raindrop ripple with words (Families, Friends, Advocates, Educators, Professionals, Providers, Bureaucrats) going from center to outside ring

The Ripple Effect of the Disability Vote

As disabled voters, we can vote to advance our rights while also educating our families, friends, advocates, educators, professionals, providers, and policymakers about the issues that are important to us.

Help us spread the word:

Use the sample social media posts below to help us spread the word about the importance of making the DISABILITY VOTE count.

Election Day is November 6 – people with disabilities need to get out and vote to ensure that our elected officials address the issues that are important to us. #REVUP #DisabilityVote18
http://bit.ly/2CPIOZ3

Tired of being ignored?
Tired of others making decisions for you?
Tired of attacks on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?

Then go vote!

#REVUP #DisabilityVote18
http://bit.ly/2CPIOZ3

As disabled voters, we can vote to advance our rights while also educating our families, friends, advocates, educators, professionals, providers, and bureaucrats about the issues that are important to us. #REVUP #DisabilityVote18
http://bit.ly/2CPIOZ3

Post with the Ripple Effect graphic, available here.

Past Resources to Get Out the Disability Vote

Let’s make 2018 the Year of the Disability Vote!

* * *

Whether its $10, $25, $50, $100 or $500, your support is crucial to help us show the power of the disability vote.

2 Weeks Until Election Day: ENGAGE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

October 23, 2018

Election Day is just 2 weeks away! Now that you are registered, have made your plan to vote? Have educated yourself about the issues and candidates? Now, it’s time to help others do their civic duty. Talk to your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to make sure they understand what’s at stake in this election and how their vote can make a difference.

NCIL GOTV Guide

The Voting Rights Subcommittee of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) has released a GOTV Guide for the 2018 election (Word | Plain Text). Calling or texting people in your network is an effective tactic to encourage people with disabilities to go vote.

#CripTheVoteStories

On Tuesday, September 27, 2016, National Voter Registration Day, our friends at #CripTheVote hosted a Twitter chat on Storytelling and Voting with Rooted in Rights as a Guest Host. Rooted in Rights and the organizers of #CripTheVote created a series of short videos featuring the disability community discussing the importance of voting.

REV UP Issues Guide

The REV UP Issues Guide provides a comprehensive, yet concise overview of the issues, legislation, and regulations that have a significant impact on the disability community. Use it as a tool to educate yourself and others.

Does Your Candidate Actually Support Protections for People With Preexisting Conditions?

This three-part test from Families USA identifies which candidates actually support people with preexisting conditions and which ones don’t.

REV UP Election Accessibility Toolkit

This Election Accessibility Toolkit is a tool to assist disability advocacy organizations and individual advocates when working with voters and election officials. It also includes information on troubleshooting problems encountered on Election Day as well as guidance on interacting with and training for poll workers.

Know your Rights as a Voter

Do you know your rights as a disabled voter? The Vote. It’s Your Right. guide from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Autistic Self Advocacy Network, National Disability Rights Network, and Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP covers the information you need to know (plain-language version for advocates available here).

“Through grassroots efforts, political action, and people speaking out on their own behalves, meaningful change will come about.”

Help us spread the word:

Use the sample social media posts below to help us spread the word about engaging friends and family on the importance of voting.

Calling or texting people in your network is an effective tactic to encourage people with disabilities to go vote. Learn more about phone and text banking in this @NCILAdvocacy GOTV Guide.
#REVUP #DisabilityVote18
https://www.ncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Get-Out-the-Vote-Guide-2018.pdf

People with disabilities discuss the importance of voting in these short videos from @rootedinrights and #CripTheVote. Are you planning to vote?
#REVUP #DisabilityVote18 #CripTheVoteStories
https://www.rootedinrights.org/videos/voting/cripthevotestories/

The REV UP Issues Guide provides a comprehensive, yet concise overview of the issues, legislation, and regulations that have a significant impact on the disability community. Use it as a tool to educate yourself and others. #DisabilityVote18
http://bit.ly/2tsOmU1

Past Resources to Get Out the Disability Vote

Let’s make 2018 the Year of the Disability Vote!

* * *

Whether its $10, $25, $50, $100 or $500, your support is crucial to help us show the power of the disability vote.

People Need to See Us Voting

October 21, 2018 | Beth Finke

I lost my sight in 1986 to a rare condition called retinopathy. By then I’d already voted twice, in national elections, as a fully-sighted person.

Struggling to adjust to blindness, I was determined not to lose my ability to vote – not just casting a ballot, but the act of voting itself.

People who are blind are guaranteed the right to vote by law. The National Voter Registration Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Help America Vote Act, and the federal Rehabilitation Act.

Friends who are blind suggested I vote absentee, but for me, there’s no substitute for the feel of a voting device in your hand, the sound of your vote actually registering.

My first blind vote was in 1988, when we still voted using a punch card. My husband Mike joined me in the booth, selected the candidates for me, and placed my hand on top of the stylus so I could physically punch the ballot on my own.

In a subsequent election Mike was away on business. I made it to the polls myself, but quickly discovered how much assistance I’d need without him. Two judges – one Democrat, one Republican – crowded with me and my Seeing Eye dog into the tiny polling booth. I didn’t bother asking them to put my hand on the stylus so I could punch the card myself, just allowed a third-party to vote for me with a second third-party to witness. Yes, I cast a ballot, but it sure wasn’t private. Everyone in the room heard exactly who I was voting for.

News of new text-to-speech software spread quickly through the blind community in the mid-2000s. The software translates the candidate selections on the ballot into spoken choices; a special keypad enables voters who are blind to choose our candidates by touch, with the selections confirmed by voice again before the ballot is cast. We could finally vote independently — and privately.

I live in Chicago, and the city sponsored free trainings at Chicago public libraries. I spent many hours at our local branch getting a feel for the machines and practicing with the buttons on the handheld device. When I arrived at the polling station in 2008 the technology was in place. Only problem? No one could operate it. There’d been no training of staff in the sequences needed – enabling the software, activating the audio, even finding the headphones that ensure privacy of selection. So backwards in time we went. Once again my husband Mike had to sign an affidavit, accompany me to the booth, read the candidates’ names out loud, and hear my choices in response, as did everyone else within earshot. The same scenario repeated in 2012 during the national elections.

Next month we again have a national election of great import, and again, my hopes are raised that I’ll be able to exercise the same basic right that sighted people do – to vote in private without public assistance. Millions of Americans with disabilities share this ambition. People need to see us out there voting. We can’t let others forget about us. In the not-too-distant past people with disabilities did stay home, not just on voting day, but perpetually. We can never go back to those days, and voting publicly is one way to ensure we don’t.

* * *

Beth Finke teaches memoir-writing classes in Chicago and is developing a short online course to help others lead memoir-writing classes using her methods. A recipient of a Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Beth’s latest book, “Writing Out Loud: What a Blind Teacher Learned from Leading a Memoir Class for Seniors” chronicles the challenges and rewards of her decade-long adventure helping older adults write their stories.

3 Weeks Until Election Day: LEARN ABOUT THE CANDIDATES AND ISSUES!

October 16, 2018

Election Day is just 3 weeks away. Take some time to educate yourself on the candidates running in your state (for federal, state, and local offices) and where they stand on the issues you care about.

Upcoming Elections for 2018

All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives have an election this year.
35 seats in the U.S. Senate have an election this year. See if your state has a U.S. Senate election.
36 state governors and 3 U.S. territory governors have an election this year. See if your state or territory has a gubernatorial election.
306 mayors have an election this year. See if your city has a mayoral election.
24 states allow citizen initiated statutes and/or constitutional amendments. Use this tool to find those states and track what’s on the ballot.

Your state or local election office is the best place to find the most up-to-date information on the midterm election in your area, especially county and local elections.

What’s on your ballot?

The VOTE411 Voter Guide from the League of Women Voters identifies candidates running for office in your community.

Does Your Candidate Actually Support Protections for People With Preexisting Conditions?

This three-part test from Families USA identifies which candidates actually support people with preexisting conditions and which ones don’t.

REV UP Issues Guide

REV UP Candidate Questionnaires and Forums

Check our REV UP State Resources and Events page to see if there is a disability candidate questionnaire or candidate forum organized in your state.

REV UP Election Accessibility Toolkit

This Election Accessibility Toolkit is a tool to assist disability advocacy organizations and individual advocates when working with voters and election officials. It also includes information on troubleshooting problems encountered on Election Day as well as guidance on interacting with and training for poll workers.

Know your Rights as a Voter

Help us spread the word:

Use the sample social media posts below to help us spread the word about voter education.

REV UP to Get Out the DISABILITY VOTE by learning about the candidates and issues on your ballot. #REVUP #DisabilityVote18
http://bit.ly/2OXoUSz

Check the REV UP State Resources and Events page to find disability candidate questionnaires and forums in your state. #REVUP #DisabilityVote18
https://www.aapd.com/advocacy/voting/state-resources-and-events/

Past Resources to Get Out the Disability Vote

Let’s make 2018 the Year of the Disability Vote!

REV UP and Get Out the Disability Vote!

* * *

Whether its $10, $25, $50, $100 or $500, your support is crucial to help us show the power of the disability vote.

4 Weeks Until Election Day: MAKE A PLAN TO VOTE!

October 9, 2018

Election Day is 4 weeks away. If you haven’t already, take some time to make a plan of how you will go vote. The questions below can help you make a clear plan to carry out your civic duty.

When will you vote?

On Election Day

What time of day will you go to the polling place?
What time do polls open and close in your district?
Where is your polling place?
Use this tool from Rock The Vote to easily identify your polling place.
How will you get to your polling place?
What are the voter ID requirements in your state?
Visit VoteRiders to learn more about the voter ID requirements in your state. If you need assistance or have questions on voter ID, call the VoteRiders toll-free Voter ID Helpline: 844-338-8743.
Who’s on the ballot?
The VOTE411 Voter Guide from the League of Women Voters identifies candidates running for office in your community.

During the Early Voting Period

When does the early voting period begin and end in your district?
On what date will you vote during the early voting period?
What time of day will you vote?
Where is your polling place?
Use this tool from Rock The Vote to easily identify your polling place.
How will you get to your polling place?
What are the voter ID requirements in your state?
Visit VoteRiders to learn more about the voter ID requirements in your state. If you need assistance or have questions on voter ID, call the VoteRiders toll-free Voter ID Helpline: 844-338-8743.
Who’s on the ballot?
The VOTE411 Voter Guide from the League of Women Voters identifies candidates running for office in your community.

By Absentee Ballot

Have you requested an absentee ballot?
Use this tool from Vote.gov to request your absentee ballot.
When will you fill out your ballot?
Do you know the deadline to postmark your ballot?
Do you have sufficient postage to mail your ballot?
Who’s on the ballot?
The VOTE411 Voter Guide from the League of Women Voters identifies candidates running for office in your community.

Your state or local election office is the best place to find the most up-to-date information on the midterm election in your area, especially county and local elections.

Help us spread the word:

Use the sample social media posts below to help us spread the word about making a plan to vote.

Election Day is less than a month away! Do you know how you’re going to vote? Check out this guide to make a specific plan. #REVUP #DisabilityVote18
http://bit.ly/2pLbquS

Are you voting in person on Election Day? During the early voting period? By absentee? Make a plan to do your civic duty! #REVUP #DisabilityVote18
http://bit.ly/2pLbquS

Help #REVUP and Get Out the DISABILITY VOTE by making a plan to go vote! #DisabilityVote18
http://bit.ly/2pLbquS