by Ray Campbell
Recently in the news we’ve all heard much discussion on legislation which is designed to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare. President Bush signed this legislation into law on Dec. 8, 2003. What was a common theme in the political and public debate over this issue? It was that seniors needed this legislation to combat high drug costs. In his weekly radio address of Nov. 15, 2003, President Bush touted the benefits of this legislation. He used the word “senior” or “seniors” 22 times during that approximately three-minute speech.
Even though this legislation offers help to people with disabilities to cover prescription drugs, and, even though there is some coverage of vision-related services included, why didn’t the president mention this during his radio address? It is in large part because people with disabilities do not vote. Seniors are mentioned prominently because they do vote in large numbers. Politicians know that if they do anything to harm Social Security or Medicare that seniors will rise up and vote them out of office.
On Nov. 18, 2003 during a press conference sponsored by the LIFE Center for Independent Living in Bloomington, Ill., American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Vice President Jim Dickson — whom I look up to as the guru of voting rights for our community — said that if we want more accessible and affordable housing, better transportation, quality rehabilitation programs and so on, we must get out and vote. Those of us who are blind or visually impaired need to rise up and oppose those politicians who take action to harm the programs we depend on. We haven’t done this in the past, which tells them that it’s OK to cut programs and services we need, such as public transportation, rehabilitation services and funding for production of materials in alternate formats for school children. The AAPD web site, www.aapd-dc.org, has statistics showing what percentage of people with disabilities in each state voted during the 2000 elections. Compared to other minority groups, our participation was quite low. Are we as a community going to continue to sit by and let the politicians take our apathy toward voting for granted?
The answer to this question had better be a resounding “no.” If we’re not going to register and go to the polls in the 2004 elections and beyond, then we will be saying we’re content to have streets that are unsafe for us to cross, a lack of transportation options, blindness services lost inside overly bureaucratic umbrella agencies and so on. I just don’t believe ACB members and friends feel that way. Let’s prove it by registering and voting in 2004. How can we make our vote count?
There are three things we must do. First, if you are not registered to vote, do so as soon as possible. Thanks to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (better known as the Motor Voter Law), many places must offer you the opportunity to register to vote. These include, but are not limited, to driver’s license facilities, rehabilitation service provider offices, and centers for independent living. You may also contact your local board of elections, or your secretary of state, to find out where you can register to vote. Make sure you find out what you are required to bring for identification and what documents are acceptable for this purpose. Register as soon as possible.
Once you’ve registered, then you just have to get to the polls and vote. It is likely that during the 2004 election, current voting procedures will still apply in many parts of the country. If you need to know where your polling place is and for some reason you do not receive this information in the mail, call your local board of elections or secretary of state’s office and they will help you. If you cannot get into the polling place, curbside voting is available and must be provided in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need assistance casting your ballot, you can either bring someone with you or there will be someone at the polling place who will assist you in marking your ballot. In the next few years, voting will become more accessible; I’ll discuss that later. However, for 2004, don’t use accessibility concerns as an excuse not to vote. Don’t let lack of transportation stop you from voting either. Ask a neighbor or friend to drive you to the polls, use public transportation, paratransit services or a taxi to get there, or you can give your area center for independent living or Lions Club a call and they can try and hook you up with people in your area who can drive you to the polls. There is always the option of filling out an absentee ballot as well. Call your local board of elections or secretary of state’s office for information on how to do this.
I mentioned earlier that voting will become more accessible to our community in the next few years. This takes me to the third thing we must work on. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which was signed into law by President Bush in November of 2002, requires that by Jan. 1, 2006, polling places must be accessible to voters with disabilities, including having at least one machine that voters who are blind or visually impaired can access independently. As we have seen, some places such as Maryland and the District of Columbia are already offering accessible voting. The machines I’m referring to are like the E-slate and other machines that have been exhibited at recent ACB conventions. It is all of our job to make sure that our local election jurisdictions comply with the 2006 date. You can help by contacting your local board of elections or secretary of state’s office and letting them know you are not happy at having to either vote at the curb because a polling place is not accessible or having someone else mark your ballot because you can’t do it yourself. Tell them you want them to do whatever they have to in order to provide you with an accessible polling place and/or a voting machine you can use independently. Please also communicate this same message to the head of your state’s election commission or your secretary of state. Your ACB affiliate or area center for independent living should be able to provide you with a contact person, mailing address, telephone number, fax number and/or e-mail address for doing this.
Finally, communicate that you expect voting to be made accessible to your state legislature and your governor’s office. If you need help finding out who your state legislator(s) are or how to reach the governor’s office, contact your ACB affiliate or area center for independent living.
Watch “The Braille Forum,” your affiliate newsletter and other publications for future information on where you can see accessible voting systems demonstrated in your area. Be ready to participate in press conferences and meetings if and when scheduled to express your feelings on this issue. Finally, candidates will be having town hall meetings and other forums to tell you about all the wonderful things they’ll do for us if we vote for them in 2004. Attend them and ask them if they are committed to making sure your city, county and state make voting accessible to you so you can vote independently by secret ballot just like all other voters. Make your decision on voting for them in part based on the answer you get.
We’ve all got work to do. Let’s get registered to vote as soon as possible if we are not currently registered, let’s do whatever we can to get to the polls on election day, and let’s work hard to make sure the promise of independent access to the polls in HAVA becomes a reality across our great nation. If we don’t register, vote and fight for better ballot access, then we’ll have no one but ourselves to blame when we continue to struggle with underfunded and unappreciated blindness services, service cuts and fare increases for transportation, threats to our programs and so forth. Are we going to sit by and let the politicians ignore us or are we going to stand up and be counted?