Did you get our email about an Opportunity to Test the Voting Process for People with Disabilities at Perkins? (see below)  We have new information!  The Testing Schedule has been released!  Perkins is still searching for testers with low vision or mobility limitations, especially those who could test a sip and puff or switch control device.  And they are offering a $25.00 Amazon gift card to all volunteers that complete the testing module, as an incentive.  If you are interested, and/or have questions, please contact Akira Fujita, Accessibility Consultant, at akira.fujita@perkins.org or (617) 972-7804.

• Friday, April 6th (Non-Disabled, Non-native English) Location: Perkins Campus :  10 AM – 4 PM
• Monday, April 9th (Mobility) Location: (TBD):   10 AM – 4 PM
• Wednesday, April 11th (Low Vision and Blind) Location: Perkins Campus:  10 AM – 4 PM

Email sent out February 7, 2018:

The Perkins School for the Blind will be testing voting tools to determine the level of accessiblity and to provide feedback in regards to the user experience.  To help with this endeavor, Perkins is looking for individuals who could participate in the roles of poll work or tester.

Perkins will be creating the environment of a “mock election” and going through the voting process as if it were a real election.

This project will take place on the Perkins Campus in Watertown, MA, probably the last week of March or the first week of April.

If you are interested, and/or have questions, please contact Akira Fujita, Accessibility Consultant, at akira.fujita@perkins.org or (617) 972-7804.

As accessibility remains a major barrier to voting for people with disabilities, we strongly encourage you to consider getting involved in this effort!

ADAPT Activists were recently in Washington, trying to prevent passage of House Bill 620 which significantly weakens the ADA. The bill has not yet been taken up by the Senate. The legislation passed 225-192 in the House.

“The idea that places of public accommodation should receive a free pass for six months before correctly implementing a law that has been a part of our legal framework for nearly three decades creates an obvious disincentive for ADA compliance,” Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), the first quadriplegic to serve in Congress, said during House floor debate.

Read The Hill coverage of this bill.

ADAPT condemns the passing of the HR 620 bill in the House

Creating a Voter Engagement Plan and Timeline for Your Nonprofit

Great article on some of the amazing advocacy and actions this year by women with disabilities, including local Rev Up activist Colleen Flanagan. If we could get more people voting for the candidates who support health care and disability rights… maybe we wouldn’t need such intense activism…

Read the article at broadly.vice.com.

by Ted Jackson

“There are 59 million Americans with disabilities and nearly 36 million of them are eligible to vote. Along with their families and care providers, this voting bloc makes up one quarter of all voters and touches one half of all voting households. Disability voter activism has been growing and it’s finally getting noticed.”

Read the whole article at www.CampaignsAndElections.com

From The Advocacy Monitor
November 21, 2017

Over the past two years, the media and the country have taken note of the disability community’s massive political interest and power. In 2016, the #CripTheVote and #RevUp campaigns created spaces for the disability community to rally as a voting bloc. More recently, ADAPT made headlines nationwide for their summer protests of repeal bills for the Affordable Care Act. Now that 2017 and its local and state elections are over, all eyes are looking toward 2018 midterms and how the disability community will impact those elections. However, the bigger question is: what still needs to be fixed before 2018 to ensure that people with disabilities have the same access to the vote as non-disabled voters?

Unfortunately, voting access hasn’t grown as the same rate as recognition of voters with disabilities. Recently, the U.S. Government Accountability Office released their survey of polling places during the 2016 election. This survey found that of the polling places they studied, 60 percent of polling places had barriers outside the polling place that could impede a disabled voter’s access to the vote. Inside, 65 percent of the polling places they surveyed had at least one impediment to casting a ballot for people with disabilities. Despite laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) that mandate accessibility for polling places, compliance with these laws and voting access in general still has a long way to go to achieve true accessibility. Sadly, this statistic isn’t surprising, as a study performed at Rutgers University in 2012 found that during the presidential election, over 30 percent of voters with disabilities surveyed encountered at least one difficulty in casting their ballot, while only 8.4 percent of voters without disabilities encountered difficulty. There is still a massive disparity in voting access for people with disabilities.

It is critical for the disability community to take note of these issues and to push for change. One way we can do this is through weighing in on the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0, a set of guidelines for voting machine manufacturers that prescribe requirements for a machine’s usability, accessibility, and security. In September, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) met for two days to discuss these guidelines. Soon, these guidelines will be made available for public comment. We need the disability community to weigh in on these guidelines, critically analyze them, and let the EAC and NIST know that accessibility of voting machines is just as important as security.

Another way voters with disabilities can promote voting access is to share their story. The EAC wants to hear from voters with disabilities about their voting experience. If you have experienced barriers at the polls, or even if you have not, share your story with listen@eac.gov. These stories help the EAC to better understand barriers to voting for people with disabilities and how to remove those barriers. Success stories are also helpful because they can help to formulate best practices to ensure access for voters with disabilities.

The Bay State Council of the Blind conducted a survey seeking information on the accessibility of voting in the Presidential election last November.  You can review the results of their research here.  Let’s hope this survey gets us even closer to 100% compliance for 2018!

Recommendations

• For a presidential election, six voters reported there was no accessible machine at their polling place. It’s likely the number would be higher for local elections. There needs to be more oversight and vigilance to ensure that all cities and towns are complying with HAVA.
• Approximately 42% of respondents took advantage of early voting, making it a popular option. Only 10% voted by absentee ballot. It’s very important for an accessible machine to be at every polling place that is open for early voting.
• One in ten voters with a disability doesn’t know if their polling place has an accessible terminal. Poll workers need to be more proactive in offering it as an option.
• One-third of poll workers would benefit from more training in the use of the terminal.
• One in ten disabled respondents said their ballot was not private. Confidentiality will be enhanced by thoughtful positioning of the terminal, good repair, and well-trained staff.

Conclusion

With the implementation of HAVA, Massachusetts voters with disabilities have far more privacy and independence than they had ten years ago. Unfortunately, inconsistencies remain. Most users liked the AutoMARK terminal, and most of the difficulties identified in the survey could be easily addressed with maintenance and training. More vigilance is needed to ensure a consistently positive experience for all voters.

Thanks to Disability Policy Consortium for the link.

After voting to become a city, Framingham will be electing their first mayor on November 7.  What an exciting time to be a voter in Framingham!  In addition to mayor, voters will be selecting City Councilors.

Mayoral candidates:

• Learn more at Yvonne Spicer’s campaign website.
• Learn more at John Stefanin’s campaign website.

The Framingham website has lots of information on candidates and polling locations.

Residents can join the campaigns and attend debates.  MetroWest Daily News reported on a recent debate, with a debate on Oct. 28  and a forum on Nov. 2.  Watch your local news for more information on these two events!

Visit the Saturday, October 28 League of Women Voters event on Facebook for more info.  1 p.m. at the Memorial Building.

Boston 2017

Boston voters will be voting for Mayor and City Councillors in a November 7 election.  (Note: voters must be registered by October 18.)  The City of Boston website has provided some great information on this event at www.boston.gov/calendar/city-boston-general-municipal-election.  Drill down to find the list of candidates, as well as a map to determine which district you are in.

You should also research the candidates.  The mayoral candidates, incumbent Marty Walsh and opponent Tito Jackson, have both been interviewed and reported on extensively by most Boston news organizations. Walsh and Jackson debated on October 24 at 7 p.m . It was broadcast by WGBH on both TV and radio (Ch.2/89.7 FM) and hosted by daytime Boston Public Radio hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan.

Mayoral Candidates

Tito Jackson’s campaign website:  titojacksonformayor.com.  Visit the Events page for opportunities to see Mr. Jackson in person.

Marty Walsh’s campaign website:  martywalsh.org.

We’re just one week away from the 2017 National Voter Registration Day (September 26, 2017)! Hopefully you are planning to host a voter registration event or join a registration event planned by another organization or group in your community.

Please see below for information on how to get involved with National Voter Registration Day. Even if you are not able to host or attend a registration event, please promote this day and encourage everyone to get registered! The folks over at National Voter Registration Day put together a Communications Toolkit with sample email and social media posts to help you activate your digital networks.  The Social Media Toolkit has ideas for posting messages on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Thank you for all that you do to make the disability vote count!

From Zach at AAPD