Kansas Disabled Voters Mail-In Ballots Tossed Because They Didn’t Write Their Names

KANSAS - The ballots of 23 Sedgwick County voters were tossed out Monday under a state law that requires disabled voters to sign their own mail-in ballot envelopes.
article by DION LEFLER for The Wichita Eagle | Nov. 13, 2017                                               

County commissioners, acting as the canvassing board for last week’s election, reluctantly signed off on the decision to toss out the ballots. They said they think the law is wrong, but they had no choice.

“We’re checking that for the next election, because it’s a stupid rule,” said commission Chairman Dave Unruh.

Rocky Nichols, executive director of the Kansas Disability Rights Center, said it defies common sense to require a person who is physically incapable of filling out a ballot to try to sign it.

“Some people with disabilities can’t use their arms,” he said. “It sounds like nobody’s disputing that these ballots were filled out (properly). It’s just technicality. ... It doesn’t seem right and it’s not right.”

The issue revolves around two affidavits that appear on the outside of voters’ mail ballot envelopes.

For the ballot to be counted, the voter is required to sign a statement on the envelope that he or she personally marked, enclosed and sealed the ballot.

But that instruction appears to conflict with the other affidavit on the envelope, where an assistant can sign to attest that he or she marked a ballot as instructed by the disabled voter.

County Counselor Eric Yost said he doesn’t see any way the voter can comply with the signature requirement without lying under oath.

“It’s worse than confusing,” Yost said. “It’s impossible to do it right. It makes me mad.”

Yost said he tried to contact the legal department at the secretary of state’s office to discuss the apparent contradictions, but didn’t get a return call on Monday.

The state law that mandates the signed envelope has been on the books since at least the 1990s, said Bryan Caskey, elections director in the secretary of state’s office.

The relevant section reads: “Any advance voting or mail ballot whose envelope containing the voter’s written declaration is unsigned, shall be wholly void and no vote thereon shall be counted,” Caskey said.

“The county election office doesn’t have any discretion,” Caskey said. “Any ballot that doesn’t have a signature must be challenged.”

Caskey was noncommittal on whether the commissioners have discretion to count the votes when they do the canvass for the election.

“I’m not going to say they can override a state law,” Caskey said. “I’m saying their job is to certify the election and they can act on the advice of their legal counsel, which is not the secretary of state.”

Voters with disabilities can vote at a polling place without physically signing their signature, Caskey said.

But to even get a mail ballot, a disabled person must have signed at some point to request it, he said.

He did acknowledge that many people who are disabled, elderly or bedfast are on a permanent list to receive mail ballots without having to request them each election.

Nichols said the state law requiring a disabled person to sign a ballot envelope could conflict with federal law.

“The Americans With Disabilities Act says you’re supposed to make reasonable accommodations for a person with a disability, for any public program, and voting is included in that,” he said.

Commissioners appeared to agree that the county should take a leading role in trying to get the law changed for future elections.

Commissioner Jim Howell, a former state lawmaker, called it a Catch 22 in the state law that he wasn’t aware until it came up this election.

“I know our intent (as legislators) was not to disenfranchise people with disabilities,” he said.

http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/election/article184447018.html

Report: Many 2016 Voting Sites Lacked Full Disability Access

DES MOINES, Iowa — Fewer than one in five polling places were fully accessible to voters with disabilities during the 2016 general election, a government report shows — a finding that has prompted federal officials to recommend the Justice Department adopt stricter compliance rules.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | NOV. 2, 2017                                                                          

The report released Thursday by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office comes less than a week before mayoral elections in Atlanta and New York, elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia and a special U.S. House election in Utah, and gives a window of only a year to address problems before the 2018 congressional elections.

The bottom line in the report, provided to The Associated Press in advance of its publication, is that accessibility for voters with disabilities has not kept pace with the increase in early voting that has occurred in many states since the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and the 2002 Help America Vote Act. Both early voting and the disabilities access improvements are top goals in making it easier to vote.

Instead, Republican President Donald Trump has urged action on unfounded allegations of voter fraud. More than a dozen Republican-controlled state legislatures have enacted tighter restrictions on voting this decade.

"With the increase in early voting, this research is timely. Are our guidelines and regulations and practices keeping up with the changing patterns of voting in America?" asked Wendy Underhill, elections program director for the National Council of State Legislatures.

Just 17 percent of the 178 polling places officials examined nationwide in the days leading up to last year's election, and on Election Day, were without any impediments to voters with disabilities, despite the vast majority of states reporting they'd taken adequate care before voting started.

Most of the problems were found outside the buildings where the voting was taking place, such as steep ramps, poor parking accommodations or hazardous path surfaces. The report included a photograph of a collapsed folding table laid between a street and the curb as a makeshift wheelchair ramp.

Most polling places examined had at least one voting station that was usable by people with physical disabilities.

The 2002 voting law, enacted after problems revealed during the 2000 presidential vote notably in Florida, included money to replace voting equipment. However, it did not include money to retrofit polling places for disabled voters.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., among lawmakers who requested the study, criticized Republican officials around the country, arguing they'd pursued voter restrictions based on largely unfounded allegations of voter fraud, while needs of disabled voters were not being met.

"The debate we've had is almost totally contrary to the reality," said Casey, ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Aging. "The assertion by GOPs has been voter fraud, which they haven't proven, so we spend our time debating that which is fiction, instead of debating the impediments to voting."

Said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.: "We need to do more to restore Americans' confidence in our political system. Our first step should be making it easier for their voices to be heard on Election Day."

President Donald Trump commissioned a panel to investigate as yet unfounded claims that millions voted fraudulently last year, when Trump was elected by winning a solid majority of Electoral College votes but receiving roughly 2.9 million fewer overall votes than Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Before that, Republicans in statehouses across the country had been enacting voter identification requirements with similarly little evidence of fraud.

Since the elections of 2010, when Republicans made big gains in governorships and GOP legislatures, 15 states have enacted, or made stricter, voter identification requirements.

Opponents say the measures are aimed at giving Republicans an advantage, because those who do not have such identification are disproportionately racial and ethnic minorities, groups that are less likely to vote Republican.

In Iowa this year, the GOP-controlled Legislature passed such a measure, which was signed by Republican then-Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican. The law was signed despite the state's top elections official saying he'd been informed of only 10 improper votes out of roughly 1.6 million counted in the 2016 election.

Establish or Join the 'REV UP' Disability Voting Coalition in your State

The purpose of REV UP State Disability Voting Coalitions is to influence election and policy outcomes at the local, state, and national level. We have Coalitions established and developing in 21 states and are working to expand to more! We are looking for leaders who can pull together and organize advocates in their state to work together around voter registration and engagement activities and help establish a strong, diverse Coalition. The 2018 midterm elections are one year away - contact us at zbaldwin@aapd.com if you are interested in getting involved.

REV UP! AAPD from channelAustin on Vimeo.

Encourage Others to REV UP and Get Out The Vote

People with disabilities accounted for nearly 17% of eligible voters in 2016. When we include our families, we account for 25% of the total electorate. 

We can influence our family, friends, advocates, educators, professionals, providers, and bureaucrats to vote in favor of disability rights!

source: American Association of People with Disabilities

National Disability Voter Registration Week 2017 "REV UP!"

The "REV UP Campaign" is coordinating the second annual National Disability Voter Registration Week (NDVRW) to increase the political power of people with disabilities while also engaging candidates and the media to recognize the disability community.

How to get involved:

• Statement of Support for the REV UP Campaign and National Disability Voter Registration Week - sign here!
• Check out our live State Resources and Events page to see if there are any REV UP events or activities near you.
• Plan your own voter registration event. We have some resources available on our NDVRW page. When you have the details of your event ready please complete this online form or send an email to programs@aapd.com.
• Hold a press event or conference with local partners to announce national and local efforts to get new people with disabilities registered to vote (sample press release)
• Write letters to the editor or Op-Eds and engage local radio or TV stations on the growing efforts by the disability community to become an influential voice in electoral politics this November and beyond.
• Host a workshop or training on state voter registration rules as well as your rights as a person with a disability.
• Make your organization a polling place. (Resources: How To Serve As A Polling Site and ADA Polling Place Checklist)
• Go to your City Council, County Commissioner, State Representative, etc. to get the week of July 17-21, 2017 declared National Disability Voter Registration Week (a draft Proclamation is available here).

These are just a few ideas to engage your community leading up to, throughout, and beyond National Disability Voter Registration Week. Check out AAPD's website for more information.

source: American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)

National Disability Voter Registration Week- REV UP - National Organizing Call on Friday, June 9

Join the REV UP National Organizing Call

June 9, 2017 | 1pm-2:30pm ET

To prepare for National Disability Voter Registration Week (NDVRW) on July 17-21, the REV UP Campaign will host a National Organizing Call on Friday, June 9 at 1pm Eastern Time. During this call we’ll discuss the REV UP Campaign’s state coalition strategy, general voter registration strategies, and activities of current REV UP state partners. There will also be an opportunity for participants to ask questions.
 

Register for the REV UP National Organizing Call

source: American Association of People with Disabilities

City of Chicago Agrees to Finally Make Polling Places Disabled Accessible

Chicago election officials say hundreds of polling places will need modifications or have to be moved to make them accessible to the disabled.

CHICAGO (AP) - April 20, 2017 - Chicago election officials say hundreds of polling places will need modifications or have to be moved to make them accessible to the disabled.

The changes are part of a settlement that the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago announced Thursday. The agreement says that the board must make every polling site accessible to the disabled by the Nov. 6, 2018 election.

The Department of Justice says it reviewed more than 100 polling places in Chicago and found many have architectural barriers that make them inaccessible for voters who have mobility or vision impairments. Under Illinois and federal law all polling places must be accessible to the disabled.

The election board says it has partnered with the disability-advocacy group Equip for Equality to plan the changes.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

November 2016 Election: Voters with Disabilities Experience Online Survey

The national Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) organization has requested individuals, advocates, and organizations across the country to assist with getting individuals with disabilities who voted in the November 8, 2016 General Election to respond to a national survey they are conducting, by January 1, 2017

The survey is seeking responses from all voters with disabilities who participated in this year's General Election either by vote by mail, early voting, or at the polls on Election Day.

The survey only takes a few minutes and the responses will be very helpful in addressing voters with disabilities' concerns on a national level. The survey covers issues regarding access to the polls, poll workers' friendliness towards individuals with disabilities, poll workers' knowledge of accessibility tools (for example, ballot marking devices) and other issues and also provides voters an opportunity to respond candidly. Please take a moment to complete the survey at the link below. Also, think about others who might be willing to take the following survey and please forward to them as well:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2016VoterExperienceSurvey

Illinois Election Help Hotline for People with Disabilities

ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2016 THE GENERAL ELECTION, EQUIP FOR EQUALITY WILL HAVE ADVOCATES AVAILABLE BY TELEPHONE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY VOTING PROBLEMS YOU MAY EXPERIENCE. 

Call: 1.800.537.2632

TTY: 1.800.610.2779

Email: Voting@equipforequality.org

6:00 am to 7:00 pm

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON VOTERS RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, VISIT EQUIP FOR EQUALITY AT http://www.equipforequality.org/issues/voting/ 

YouTube published by Equip for Equality

For The Disability Community Voting Can Still Have Barriers, Understanding Your Rights

The Americans with Disabilities Act ensures that people with disabilities have a full and equal opportunity to vote.

The U.S. Department of Justice website helps to define, and understand the rights of people with disabilities, as the website states:

Voting is one of our nation’s most fundamental rights and a hallmark of our democracy. Yet for too long, many people with disabilities have been excluded from this core aspect of citizenship. People with intellectual or mental health disabilities have been prevented from voting because of prejudicial assumptions about their capabilities. People who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids, such as walkers, have been unable to enter the polling place to cast their ballot because there was no ramp. People who are blind or have low vision could not cast their vote because the ballot was completely inaccessible to them.

Important federal civil rights laws were enacted to combat such forms of discrimination and protect the fundamental right to vote for all Americans. This document provides guidance to states, local jurisdictions, election officials, poll workers, and voters on how the Americans with Disabilities Act and other federal laws help ensure fairness in the voting process for people with disabilities.

The U.S. Department of Justice - Americans with Disabilities website (https://www.ada.gov/ada_voting/ada_voting_ta.htm) is a wonderful resource for people with disabilities, family members, caregivers and advocates, as a resource for the rights of the disability community. Throughout the country their are advocates, and organizations to reach out to also.

If anyone needs help in locating  resources that are available in your part of the country, feel free to send a email here at Ability Chicago Info, we will be honored to assist. 

Email inquires to Jim at jimwatkins@abilitychicago.info - in 'subject' header post 'request for voting resources'. TY

Presidential Candidates Questionnaire Results for America's Disability Community Concerns

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the National Council for Independent Living(NCIL), and the REV UP Campaign are pleased to share the results of the 2016 Presidential Candidate Questionnaire. These questions have been sent to the current presidential candidates Donald Trump (R) and Hillary Clinton (D).

Hillary Clinton (D) was the first candidate for the 2016 presidential election to complete the REV UP Presidential Candidate Questionnaire. 

Clinton Campaign Response to REV UP Questionnaire

Donald Trump (R) also did respond to the REV UP Presidential Candidate Questionnaire.

Trump Campaign Response to REV UP Questionnaire 

SOURCE: American Association of People with Disabilities

You and the Law: 2016 Election Voting Rights and Access to the Polls, Chicago Bar Assn. video (cc)

The Chicago Bar Association hosted a discussion regarding voting rights at the polls, how/where to register to vote; how to report a concern; issues relating to accessibility for disenfranchised populations, including those with disabilities. The following video (cc) was posted on YouTube Oct.7, 2016 by the The Chicago Bar Association.

Colorado Mom and Her 7-year-old Girl with A Disability Escorted From Trump Rally

A Colorado woman says she was disappointed to be escorted away from Donald Trump's rally in Loveland Monday by U.S. Secret Service.

Jennifer Mau and her 7-year-old daughter, who has disabilities, say they attended the rally as an undecided family, wanting to know more about the Republican candidate for president.

report by Sally Mamdooh for ABC7 Denver News | Oct. 4, 2016

Her daughter was born without a jaw bone or ears and receives her nutrients from a feeding tube.

Amid the rally, however, Mau decided to leave with her daughter. Mau said that drew the ire of those surrounding her.

When we were leaving, somebody said, 'Why are you leaving?' and basically struck a nerve," Mau said. "I said, 'Why are you here? He makes fun of people like you.'"

Several people yelled at her - one followed her, telling her if she loved her daughter she should vote for Trump -- until she said Secret Service escorted her out of the rally.

Mau said she was saddened to be harassed for standing up for her daughter with disabilities, but she said she was happy to see some people walk out with her, saying her daughter is beautiful.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/7-year-old-girl-with-disabilities-removed-from-trump-rally?autoplay=true

RELATED POST:

Donald Trump mocks reporter with Disability

People with Disabilities are the Largest Voting Bloc in the United States And Needs to Unify

During a hyper political season in which the media jockeys to cover which presidential candidate has courted favor or offended which minority group in our country, the largest minority group among us is largely ignored - people with disabilities (PWD). 

by Jay Ruderman  President, The Ruderman Family Foundation, published by The Huffington Post | Sept. 28, 2016

According to statistics PWD make up approximately nineteen percent of our population or roughly sixty million Americans. If we add family members of PWD to this bloc, we are talking about a plurality of American voters—a group that can easily decide any election. So then why does the media largely ignore this massive minority population and its potential impact on our upcoming presidential election? Part of this omission is no doubt rooted in the historic marginalization of PWD. However, I think it is also embedded in the disability community’s lack of unification; PWD have yet to successfully join together to amplify their voice as a group.

While there have been huge gains by the disability community this political season, such as increased attention in the wake of the recent quarter century anniversary of the ADA—the landmark legislation for disability rights—the nonpartisan #CripTheVote campaign, and both parties’ National Conventions giving air time to PWD, the disability community largely segregates themselves into various groups focused on their disabilities. Although there are organizations that work towards the inclusion of all PWD, the majority are honed in on one category of disability. Whether the disability is autism, paralysis, schizophrenia, blindness, depression, deafness or any other one, there is a national organization and advocacy group for that particular disability. Many of these organizations do great work and advocate for similar causes, but by virtue of their separate efforts, the American public and the media in the United States tend to see the disability community not as a community, but rather a group of disparate agendas.

It is largely understandable that we don’t readily see all people with disabilities as part of the same group. At first glance, Olympic powerhouse Michael Phelps who has written about having ADHD has little in common with a wheelchair-user. However, the fact is that both Phelps and any other person with any disability needs—and has a right to—an accommodating environment that allows them to succeed and be fully integrated in all aspects of life. Regardless of the specific needs, every group within the disability community would benefit from a unified agenda that would allow them to act as a voting bloc.

The more the disability community will work together to send a unified message that they will no longer be silent when their community is segregated by separate schools, housing, employment, religious and social life, the more the American public and our media will awake to the political power of this vast and growing community. The more the disability community will demand, in a unified voice, that an unemployment rate of sixty-five percent for PWD is unacceptable in modern day America, the more their voice will be heard.

The day that America should realize that disability rights are civil rights has arrived. It is not too late for the disability community to band together and make their unified voice heard. The time has come for all Americans with disabilities and their families to demand that their rights be honored by our elected officials who are on the ballot this coming November. By uniting the advocacy and unifying the message of all PWD this fall, the American people and our media will turn its attention even more to the largest minority group in the United States.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-ruderman/the-largest-voting-bloc-i_b_12199510.html

Jay Ruderman is President of the Ruderman Family Foundation - photo, a leading advocacy organization focusing on the full inclusion of people with disabilities into society.

Follow Jay Ruderman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JayRuderman

Hillary Clinton Outlines Vision for People With Disabilities “We’ve got to build an inclusive economy that welcomes people with disabilities.”

Of all the attacks that Hillary Clinton and her fellow Democrats have tried against Donald J. Trump since he captured the Republican presidential nomination, one has stood out for its emotional force and persuasive power: No one, it seems, can abide Mr. Trump’s mockery last year of a reporter’s physical disability.

very nice article by MATT FLEGENHEIMER and AMY CHOZICK for The New York Times | SEPT. 21, 2016
And as Mrs. Clinton strains to make a more affirmative case for her own candidacy, after a summer focused largely on hammering Mr. Trump, her campaign believes that a focus on an often-overlooked constituency — voters with disabilities — can accomplish both goals at once.

On Wednesday, without mentioning the Trump episode, Mrs. Clinton discussed her vision for an “inclusive economy” with expanded job opportunities for what she called “a group of Americans who are, too often, invisible, overlooked and undervalued — who have so much to offer, but are given far too few chances to prove it.

“That’s been true for a long time,” she said, “and we have to change it.”

In keeping with a recent campaign theme, she described how her career had informed her policy goals, from her work for people with disabilities during her time at the Children’s Defense Fund to her tenure as secretary of state, when she appointed the first special adviser for international disability rights.

Whether they can participate in our economy and lead rich, full lives that are as healthy and productive as possible is a reflection on us as a country,” she said in a gymnasium at a youth center here.

Though Mrs. Clinton made no mention of the moment last year when Mr. Trump mocked a New York Times reporter, Serge F. Kovaleski, who has a congenital joint condition that visibly limits the flexibility in his arms, she may not have had to: The episode has earned Mr. Trump some of his most blistering ratings in focus groups, and a pro-Clinton “super PAC” made it the centerpiece of an ad in June. (Mr. Trump has denied that he was mocking the reporter’s appearance, saying he did not even recall meeting him.)

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign plainly views the contrast as critical to its strategy for the remainder of the race, including the highly anticipated first debate with Mr. Trump on Monday. Mrs. Clinton has said often that she can handle the personal insults from him, but that what gets her piqued are attacks on groups that Mr. Trump has appeared to bully.

And she is in good company. “Making fun of that reporter was just not only in bad taste, it just demonstrated the character of him,” said Christine Griffin, a lawyer and disability policy advocate in Boston. “The disability community is very upset by that, but if you look at the poll numbers, so is the rest of society.”

Mrs. Clinton’s team did not entirely hold its fire on Wednesday. Hours after she left the stage, her campaign held a conference call in which supporters condemned Mr. Trump’s mocking of Mr. Kovaleski. “You’d have to go back 50 years or more to find someone who would actually think that way,” said Tom Harkin, the former Iowa senator who introduced the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.

The campaign also featured the infamous clip of Mr. Trump in a new ad starring Anastasia Somoza, a disability rights advocate who was born with cerebral palsy and has known Mrs. Clinton since she was 9.

People with disabilities make up a potentially potent political coalition: A study this month from two Rutgers professors projected that more than 35 million people with disabilities would be eligible to vote this year — roughly one-sixth of the electorate. More than a quarter of the electorate either has a disability or shares a household with someone who does, the study estimated. And they are represented fairly equally in both parties. As the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2008, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska spoke often of championing children with special needs, noting her own child with Down syndrome.

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, the president of RespectAbility, an advocacy group, said the election had focused attention on issues affecting disabled voters as never before, with Mr. Trump’s behavior serving as a galvanizing force.

“I don’t think there’s a person with a disability on the planet who has never been made fun of,” said Ms. Mizrahi, who has dyslexia and is raising a child with physical disabilities. “Every person with a disability knows what it’s like to live with stigma.”

Ms. Mizrahi also lamented that Mr. Trump had often “conflated the word ‘stupid’ with the word ‘loser,’ ” as she put it, warning that such thinking could hinder the job prospects of people with intellectual disabilities.

On Wednesday, Mrs. Clinton did not go there, infusing her half-hour address with the earnest zeal that she tends to summon more readily during policy speeches than in campaign rallies.

She ticked off statistics, noting that nearly one in five Americans lives with a disability, and strayed from her prepared remarks — “I want you to hear this because this is not well known,” she interjected at one point — to urge people to listen.

She spoke of her own policy agenda for people with disabilities, which includes a program aimed at helping people with autism and a pledge to eliminate the “subminimum wage” paid to some people with disabilities, which she called “a vestige from an ugly, ignorant past.”

Mrs. Clinton said she had taken to carrying a copy of a recent article in The Boston Globe that detailed the successful three-decade career of a McDonald’s employee with Down syndrome.

And she described what she viewed as the “ultimate test” of a society: “how we treat our fellow human beings, especially the most vulnerable among us.”

The closest she came to mentioning Mr. Trump was at the end, when she repeated a common campaign refrain: “Love trumps hate.”

Solidifying the disabled as a voting bloc may require extra diligence, given issues of accessibility at many polling places. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 sought to remove impediments, but advocates say many barriers remain. The National Disabilities Rights Network, for one, seeks to inspect polling locations in advance, but many are not open until Election Day, making that impossible.

Until then, Mrs. Clinton seems likely to return to the theme often. Some of her most affecting moments on the campaign trail have come when people have approached her on rope lines or during round-table discussions about their struggles caring for disabled family members, and she has often turned to the subject spontaneously.

The crowd on Wednesday appeared grateful for the consistent attention.

In lieu of a sign, Geannie Bastian, 35, who uses a wheelchair, held up her college degree, saying it represented Mrs. Clinton’s commitment to improving educational opportunities for disabled people.

She said Mrs. Clinton was wise not to discuss Mr. Trump in the room. Everyone, she said, knew his record well.

“I know what that gesture is,” she said, recalling Mr. Trump’s imitation of Mr. Kovaleski. “I’ve had kids do this my entire life.”

# Matt Flegenheimer reported from Orlando, and Amy Chozick from New York.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/us/politics/hillary-clinton-speech.html?_r=0

Illinois U.S.Senate race between two physically disabled candidates - Kirk(r) vs Duckworth(d)

The race for Senate here in Illinois is contentious and potentially historic.

nice article by Katie Zezima for The Washington Post | Sept. 17, 2016

Both Republican incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk and his Democratic challenger, Rep. Tammy Duckworth, are physically disabled and often use a wheelchair. Kirk suffered a massive stroke in 2012; his left side is partially paralyzed. Duckworth lost both her legs and partial use of her right arm in 2004 after the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting in Iraq was shot down.

“We know the next senator for Illinois is going to be in a wheelchair,” Kirk said in a recent interview, his speech slurred and a cane by his side.

It’s a long way from the era when politicians kept their disabilities a closely guarded secret. Franklin D. Roosevelt and his aides tried to minimize the public appearance of the president in a wheelchair or using braces. John F. Kennedy hid the extent of his crippling back pain.

Change started to come over the following decades, with disabled veterans including Max Cleland of Georgia and Bob Dole of Kansas winning congressional seats and the Americans With Disabilities Act passing in 1990. The U.S. Senate floor still isn’t wheelchair accessible; Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), a quadriplegic, was responsible for adding ramps to the House side and making the speaker’s rostrum handicap accessible.

Here in Illinois, the Senate race between two people with disabilities is widely seen as a landmark — and comes during the same election cycle when the Republican presidential nominee mocked a reporter with a disability.

“I think it’s just another milestone, and in any civil rights movement you sort of lift up those milestones,” said Helena Berger, president and chief executive of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

Others, including the Democratic challenger, think it’s just another race.

“I don’t think it’s really a big deal,” Duckworth said. “I just do my own thing. I get out there and I campaign.”

But in an about-face from the days of FDR, some politicians now see an advantage in talking about their disabilities, discussing them in ads, interviews and public appearances as evidence that they can overcome obstacles and lead.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who became a paraplegic after an accident while jogging in his 20s, released an ad during his 2014 gubernatorial campaign showing him rolling his wheelchair into an empty parking garage. It was a routine he took on after his accident to rebuild his strength.

“I would roll up an eight-story parking garage, spending hours going up the ramps,” he said, as the camera showed him doing just that. “It would get harder and harder, but I wouldn’t quit.”

It’s a story Abbott now often tells in public. In another ad about traffic problems on Texas roads, Abbott says, “A guy in a wheelchair can move faster than traffic on some roads in Texas.”

During the race, opponent Wendy Davis (D) released a controversial ad attacking Abbott for opposing litigation as attorney general that was similar to a case he won after his accident.

“A tree fell on Greg Abbott,” the narrator says. “He sued and got millions. Since then, he’s spent his career working against other victims.”

Davis was lambasted for the ad and lost overwhelmingly to Abbott on Election Day.

In Illinois, both candidates have released ads focusing or touching on their disabilities. Kirk spent months in a rehabilitation facility, a time during which he said he was depressed, lying in bed watching what he called the “blue blacks” — the blue of the daytime sky and black of night.

He allowed his recovery to be filmed, spurred in part by a local politician who kept his stroke a secret. In a minute-long ad released in May, Kirk chronicled his recovery, showing footage of him in a harness, learning how to walk again, and walking up the stairs of the Willis Tower.

“As I learned to walk and climb again, I thought about Illinois families struggling to get by. I thought of our veterans and our heroic men and women serving in harm’s way. They’re the reason why I fought so hard to get back,” Kirk said in the ad, titled “Courage.” Kirk walked up the steps of the Senate on his first day back at work and said his stroke has made him a more empathetic person.

In another ad, Kirk defends his decision to reverse his endorsement of Trump, his abortion rights views and his call for a vote on the confirmation of President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland.

“Long before his stroke, Mark Kirk was independent,” a narrator says.

Kirk’s doctor released a letter Wednesday stating that the senator has made a “full cognitive recovery” and that he is quickly recuperating physically. Richard G. Fessler, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, wrote that Kirk has no use of his left arm or hand and has limited use of his left leg. Fessler said Kirk walks with the aid of a cane and brace and that he is not likely to regain a full range of motion on his left side.

Duckworth has long discussed the attack on her helicopter, her recovery and wounds. An ad released this cycle shows footage of her recovering at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Duckworth started participating in marathons after her accident, first as a member of the “Missing Parts in Action” team at Walter Reed and later on the Achilles International Freedom Team.

“It gave me courage to run for office in the first place,” Duckworth said of being shot down and recovering. “At the end of the day nothing will ever be as bad as that one day in Iraq and those months in the hospital.”

Disabilities aside, the race between Kirk and Duckworth has been typical of a hard-fought battle for a Senate seat. Kirk, who served in the Navy, has accused Duckworth of not properly caring for veterans when she was director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and later an assistant secretary at the federal VA. Duckworth has slammed Kirk for embellishing his military record and walking back his endorsement of Trump. In June, Kirk said he could no longer support Trump given his past attacks on women, Hispanics and “the disabled like me.” Each candidate has accused the other of not doing enough for Illinois residents and of being ineffective.

Kirk has criticized Duckworth for being the subject of a lawsuit alleging workplace retaliation while she oversaw the state veterans agency. A $26,000 settlement was announced in June with no finding of wrongdoing, although the plaintiffs later rejected the offer and the matter remained unresolved. Kirk also accused her of giving jobs to “happy fun boys” at the Illinois VA.

“They’re political operatives,” Kirk said. “You know, it’s always Joe and Mino or whatever, you know, overweight, too many hot dogs. Those kind of guys.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee was criticized in March for tweeting that Duckworth has a “sad record of not standing up for our veterans.”

Duckworth pointed to Kirk having to apologize in 2010 for making inaccurate statements about his time in the Navy Reserve.

“The man has lied about his own military record. . . . I doubt that he can be trusted to tell the truth about an opponent’s military service,” Duckworth said.

In August, Duckworth called Kirk “unhinged” and said the senator “lacks the ability to control what he’s saying” after Kirk said Obama was “acting like the drug dealer in chief” after the administration said it made a $400 million cash payment to Iran in January. Duckworth said her comment had nothing to do with Kirk’s stroke but was a reflection of his record. Kirk’s campaign said it was a “cheap shot” and continued to hammer the Obama administration over its Iran policy and Duckworth for supporting the president.

Both candidates admit that campaigning, an inherently exhausting endeavor, is even tougher when disabled.

“I can’t work a reception like I used to,” he said. “Working a reception from a wheelchair is pretty tough, and I’m sure that Tammy has the same challenge.”

Duckworth said campaigning is exhausting, but so is caring for her daughter, who was born in November 2014.

She insists that her office and all of the events she attends be wheelchair accessible, not only for her but also for others who might want to attend. She gets phantom pain if she sits in what’s called a bucket — it covers her right side and the inch of leg she has left — for 10 to 14 hours at a time, a normal day for her.

“It sucks and you’re tired, but this is important to me and this is important to my community and important to my state and important to my nation,” she said. “For me to go home and feel sorry for myself and do nothing because I lost my legs . . . would spit in the face of the men who carried me out of that field in Iraq, and I’m just spending every day trying to pay back a debt that I can never pay back.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-illinois-a-landmark-senate-race-between-two-physically-disabled-candidates/2016/09/17/08936d2a-5fdf-11e6-9d2f-b1a3564181a1_story.html#comments

# Katie Zezima is a national political correspondent covering the 2016 presidential election. She previously served as a White House correspondent for The Washington Post.

Participate With The 2016 Presidential Candidate Questionnaire on Disability Issues

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the National Council for Independent Living (NCIL), and the REV UP Campaign are pleased to release the 2016 Presidential Candidate Questionnaire. These questions have been sent to all of the current presidential candidates. Their responses will be shared publicly once received.

You can view the Questionnaire here.

We need YOUR HELP getting all of the campaigns to respond and complete the survey. A letter including these signatures will be sent to all of the campaigns that do not respond to the survey.

TO PARTICIPATE WITH THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL CANIDATE QUESTIONAIRE, VISIT:   https://aapd.kindful.com/register/presidential-candidate-questionnaire-2016

You can also tweet at each campaign to encourage them to complete the survey!

SOURCE: AAPD

Disability Resources Available on Voting and Polling Place Accessibility

The U.S. Access Board is sharing some great resources!

Voting is a fundamental and protected right for all citizens, including those with disabilities. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other laws, people with disabilities must have full and equal opportunities to vote. The Department of Justice (DOJ), which regulates and enforces ADA mandates that apply to state and local governments, offers several guides on the subject. These include the "ADA Checklist for Polling Places," a 25-page resource (pdf) DOJ recently updated that explains what makes a polling place accessible from entry onto the site to voting areas. It also recommends design remedies and provides a survey checklist for evaluating polling place accessibility. Other resources from DOJ include a bulletin (pdf) that provides solutions to common access problems at polling places and a guide (pdf) to federal laws that protect the rights of voters with disabilities.

In addition to the ADA, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 established requirements for voting systems used in Federal elections and requires access to polling places and voting systems for persons with disabilities. Under the law, each precinct in the country must have at least one accessible voting machine or system so that people with disabilities, including those with vision impairments, are afforded the same opportunity for participation, including privacy and independence, available to other voters. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which implements HAVA and issues guidance on meeting the requirements of the law, including guidelines for voting systems, is another key resource on accessible voting. The EAC offers a "BeReady16" toolkit that includes a section on accessibility, and other resources on accessible polling places and voting systems for voters with disabilities and voting officials. Visit EAC's website at www.eac.gov for further information.

Those who encounter accessibility issues in voting can contact the Voting Section of DOJ's Civil Rights Division which enforces civil provisions of federal laws that protect the right to vote, including HAVA and the Voting Rights Act. Complaints can be filed through an online form or submitted

at voting.section@usdoj.gov (email), (800) 253-3931 (phone), (202) 307-3961 (fax), or the Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Room 7254 – NWB, 950 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20530.

National Disability Voter Registration Week - July 11-15, 2016

The American Association of People with Disabilities has shared the following to consider for your organization, or individual efforts to offer voter registration!

National Disability Voter Registration Week July 11-15, 2016 The REV UP Campaign is coordinating a National Disability Voter Registration Week to increase the political power of people with disabilities while also engaging candidates and the media to recognize the disability community. Below is a maple proclamation to take to your City Council, County Commissioner, State Representative, etc. to get the week of July 11-15, 2016 declared National Disability Voter Registration Week. If your state or city will be declaring July 11-15, 2016 declared as National Disability Voter Registration Week please let us know by emailing communications@aapd.com.

Disability Voter Registration Week Proclamation WHEREAS in July 2015 people with disabilities and our supporters celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); AND WHEREAS there are over 50 million people with disabilities of all ages living in communities throughout the United States; AND WHEREAS the disability community has a critical interest in policies enacted at local, state and national levels that effect the integration of people with disabilities, young and old, into our communities; AND WHEREAS getting the disability community involved in influencing public policies is essential if these policies are to meet the real needs of people with disabilities to live in the community; AND WHEREAS voting is one way for the disability community to exert their influence at local, state and national elections; AND WHEREAS there are multiple efforts to develop disability coalitions around the issue of voting; AND WHEREAS REV UP America * Register – Educate – Vote Use your Power is a national effort to encourage local and/or state disability community voting coalitions; AND WHEREAS members of the national disability rights community are organizing a National Disability Voter Registration Week (NDVRW) July 11th – July 15th; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the [insert city, county, state, etc.] supports the growing involvement of the disability community in the political process; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the [insert city, county, state, etc.] designates the week of July 11th – 15th as National Disability Voter Registration Week.   Resources Ways to get involved in National Disability Voter Registration Week   National Disability Voter Registration Week Organizing & Training Webinar   AAPD Press Release on National Disability Voter Registration Week[sample press release available here]   REV UP Images and Toolkits   State Resources and Events   Voter Resource Center   2016 Election   We want to hear from you! Are you planning a voter registration drive, press conference, voting rights workshop, or other event? Let us know! We're trying to build a national effort to demonstrate the power of the DISABILITY VOTE. And we'd be happy to promote your event on our State Resources and Events page. Please send all events details to communications@aapd.com. Thank You! Thank you for your commitment to making the DISABILITY VOTE count! * repost form June 2016