Tamar Mag Raine
[log in to unmask]
IM: tamarmag48
Oakland Mayor's Commission on People with disabilities
> [Original Message]
> From: ruthanne shpiner <[log in to unmask]>
> To: adapt-cal <[log in to unmask]>
> Cc: berkeley disabled <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 10/21/2004 2:58:32 PM
> Subject: [berkeley-disabled] Fw: [DisabledGreens] Barriers Restrict
Voting by People with Disabilities
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Shannon Miller
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 3:03 PM
> Subject: [DisabledGreens] Barriers Restrict Voting by People with
Disabilities
>
>
> Subject: Barriers Restrict Voting by People with Disabilities
>
>
> "Barriers Restrict Voting by People with Disabilities"
>
> A Press Release from the National Organization on
> Disability:
>
> BARRIERS RESTRICT VOTING BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
>
> Transportation and problems at polling places are major
> impediments to voting rights
>
> WASHINGTON, DC, October 19 - Twenty-one percent of U.S.
> adults with disabilities-representing more than eight
> million potential voters-say they have been unable to vote
> in presidential or congressional elections due to barriers
> faced either at, or in getting to, the polls. The findings
> raise serious issues for the upcoming elections, which
> already are cause for concern among voting rights
> advocates. This poll result is part of a larger disability
> survey project studying voter preferences, issues of
> concern, and barriers to voting during this election
> season. This survey project by the National Organization on
> Disability has been made possible by a grant from Carnegie
> Corporation of New York.
>
> Issues of voting rights are not confined to a single state
> or a single voting bloc, said N.O.D. President Alan A.
> Reich. They are national issues with national
> repercussions. We strongly encourage election officials to
> respond to this serious problem and to direct all poll
> workers to redouble efforts to ensure that those of us with
> disabilities receive all necessary attention and
> assistance.
>
> N.O.D.s poll*, conducted by Harris Interactive., found
> that of the roughly one-fifth of U.S. adults with
> disabilities who said they had wanted to vote, but were not
> able to:
>
> * 29 percent said they could not get accessible
> transportation;
> * 22 percent said their eligibility had been challenged;
> * 21 percent reported the polling place was not accessible;
> * 21 percent reported their mental or physical abilities
> were questioned;
> * 19 percent said they could not understand the voting
> machine;
> * 18 percent said they were made to feel embarrassed or
> uncomfortable;
> * 12 percent reported that needed alternative voting
> formats (e.g. large print ballots, computer assisted
> voting booths, paper ballots, etc.) were not available;
> * 12 percent said needed assistance (e.g. a sign language
> interpreter) was not available; and
> * 8 percent said they were not allowed to have someone help
> them with the voting machine.
>
> Additionally, 21 percent said they did not know how to
> register, in spite of legal requirements that those who
> provide services to people with disabilities also offer
> help in registering to vote.
>
> Forty million Americans with disabilities are of voting
> age and it is critical that our ballots be cast, just like
> anyone elses. It is the fundamental promise of democracy
> that the voices of all citizens will be heard through the
> ballot box. Reich said. People with disabilities have
> more, not less, reason than other Americans to vote, yet
> only 41 percent of voting-aged citizens with disabilities
> voted in 2000. In these final days leading up to the 2004
> election, and in the months that follow, we are determined
> to ensure that promise is kept for people with
> disabilities.
>
> The National Organization on Disability, founded in 1982,
> promotes the full and equal participation and contribution
> of Americas 54 million men, women and children with
> disabilities in all aspects of life. N.O.D. is a
> nonpartisan organization. For more information visit
> www.nod.org <http://www.nod.org/>.
>
>
> *Methodology: The Harris Poll. was conducted by telephone
> within the United States between September 9 and 13, 2004
> among a nationwide cross section of 398 adults (aged 18 and
> over) with disabilities and 828 adults (aged 18 and over)
> without disabilities. For both samples figures for age,
> sex, race, education, and region were weighted where
> necessary to align them with their actual proportions in
> each population. For the sample of people with
> disabilities, these respondents were also weighted by type
> of disability and the sample of people without disabilities
> was also weighted by the number of adults and number of
> voice/telephone lines in the household where necessary.
> In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can
> say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a
> sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for
> the total sample of U.S. adults without disabilities (and
> plus or minus 5 percentage points for the smaller sample of
> U.S. adults with disabilities). Unfortunately, there are
> several other possible sources of error in all polls or
> surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical
> calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be
> interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question
> order, interviewer bias, weighting by demographic control
> data and screening (e.g., for likely voters). It is
> impossible to quantify the errors that may result from
> these factors.
>
>
> Contact:
> Brewster Thackeray, [log in to unmask]
>
> Tim Sullivan, [log in to unmask]
>
> 202/955-6327
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo website (use for subscription changes or to access archives or
files):
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/disabledgreens/
>
> Disabilty Caucus website: http://immuneweb.org/dg/
>
>
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