DisBeat Issues Top 5 Reasons To Pay Close Attention to the Disability Community’s Voter Registration Work
(PRWEB) July 12, 2016 -- There are 59 million Americans with disabilities. As the nation ramps up for the DNC and RNC conventions this month, the disability community is mobilizing national disability voter registration week, July 11-15th. REV UP stands for "Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power!" It is a state-by-state GOTV organized campaign coordinated by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). Crip The Vote is an online GOTV project and DO Network is a California based group getting out the disability vote.
In the spirit of this mobilization, DisBeat Below has announced the top five reasons to pay close attention to the disability community’s voter registration work:
5. The disability community has a huge stake in state and federal results of the November election. Justin Dart, father of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), said “Vote as if your life depended on it, because it does.”
4. At a level that has never been achieved before, national and state disability organizations are actively registering voters and planning get out the DISABILITY VOTE activities, leading up to Election Day. These include the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL), #CripTheVote, the DO Network, the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), REV UP Massachusetts, REV UP Texas, the Texas Disability Project, votedisability.net, and several other state and local disability rights organizations.
3. REV UP campaigns have kicked off in several states with more joining daily. California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and DC are actively organizing the Disability Vote.
2. National and local elections will be affected as the political power of the disability community increases by getting more people with disabilities registered and committed to vote on election day while simultaneously engaging candidates for public office and the media on disability issues. While currently focused on the upcoming election, the REV UP Campaign is committed to continuing to engage people with disabilities in communities across the country through 2016 and beyond.
1. There are nearly 30 million people with disabilities eligible to vote when registered. This number does not even include “the ripple effect” of family, friends, and service professionals who will vote in-line with disability interests. During National Disability Voter Registration Week, Campaigns around the country will make a concerted effort to get more people with disabilities registered to vote, educate voters about issues and candidates, promote turnout of voters with disabilities across the country, engage candidates and the media on disability issues, and protect eligible voters’ right to participate in elections.
For more information on the disability vote, National Disability Voter Registration Week, and how to start organizing in your state please see DisBeat.com.
About DisBeat: DisBeat is a national communications initiative designed to coordinate and promote proactive messaging on disability rights issues throughout the country. DisBeat uses a variety of communication tools, including social media, to bring attention to disability issues from an authentic disability perspective. DisBeat also maintains a database of subject-matter experts, fact sheets and talking points on a variety of critical issues facing 56.7 million Americans with Disabilities. DisBeat is a project of The ADA Legacy Projects. Initial Partners include ADAPT of Montana, Center for Disability Rights, Disability Rights Center, Disability Visibility Project, EIN SOF Communications, Nothing Without Us Media, and Shepherd Center. (http://www.adalegacy.com/disbeat).
About The ADA Legacy Project: The mission of The ADA Legacy Project is to honor the contributions of people with disabilities and their allies by preserving the history of the disability rights movement, by celebrating its milestones, and by educating the public, media and future generations of advocates. (http://www.adalegacy.com/)
Mark Johnson, ADA Legacy, http://www.adalegacy.com, +1 4043507490, [email protected]
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