How the disability voting bloc could swing the 2016 election
In an election where gender and race are both popular topics of discussion, there’s a silent but formidable group of voters that no one’s talking about: disabled voters.
At last census, roughly 20% of the US population identified with some degree of disability, spanning a huge range of impairments across race, gender, age and class. Disabled people represent a huge electoral bloc, one Jim Dickson, the co-chair of the National Council on Independent Living’s voting rights subcomittee, contends is as formidable as other minority bloc voters.
But disabled voters don’t get much media attention – and substantial barriers lie between them and the polls. Some organizers want to change that, and are looking at ways to mobilize the disability vote.
Lisa Schur and Doug Cruse, researchers at Rutgers, have studied disability and voting extensively to explore the statistics of the disability vote and find out more about who is participating – and who isn’t.
“General predictors of voting include income, education and social isolation,” Cruse explains, noting that these are all common issues in the disability community. Schur adds that only 30% of polling places in the US are completely accessible, and voters struggle with issues like transportation, photo ID laws and polling place hours, all problems also encountered by other minority groups.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/15/disability-voting-block-could-swing-2016-election
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great deal but we have no leverage or power and need help to achieve this.
