REV UP Campaign - Making the Disability Vote Count

Author: American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
Published: 2016/07/11
Category Topic: Disability Political Editorials - Academic Publications

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: There are nearly 30M people with disabilities eligible to vote - not including family, friends, and service professionals who will vote in-line with disability interests.

Introduction

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is coordinating a national effort to make the DISABILITY VOTE more influential. As part of this Campaign, July 11th-15th has been designated as National Disability Voter Registration Week in advance of the November election. REV UP stands for Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power!

Main Content

Below are the top five reasons to pay close attention to the REV UP Campaign:

• The disability community has a huge stake in state and federal results of the November election. Justin Dart, father of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), said "Vote as if your life depended on it, because it does."
• At a level that has never been achieved before, national and state disability organizations are actively registering voters and planning get out the DISABILITY VOTE activities leading up to Election Day. These include the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL), #CripTheVote, the DO Network, the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), REV UP Massachusetts, REV UP Texas, the Texas Disability Project, #VoteDisability, and several other state and local disability rights organizations.
• REV UP campaigns have kicked off in several states with more joining daily. California, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and DC are actively organizing the DISABILITY VOTE.
• National and local elections will be affected as REV UP increases the political power of the disability community by getting more people with disabilities registered and committed to vote on election day while simultaneously engaging candidates for public office and the media on disability issues. While currently focused on the upcoming election, the REV UP Campaign is committed to continuing to engage people with disabilities in communities across the country through 2016 and beyond.
• There are nearly 30 million people with disabilities eligible to vote when registered. This number does not even include "the ripple effect" of family, friends, and service professionals who will vote in-line with disability interests. During National Disability Voter Registration Week, REV UP Campaigns around the country will make a concerted effort to get more people with disabilities registered to vote, educate voters about issues and candidates, promote turnout of voters with disabilities across the country, engage candidates and the media on disability issues, and protect eligible voters' right to participate in elections.

For more information on the REV UP Campaign, National Disability Voter Registration Week, and how to start organizing in your state please visit www.aapd.com/REVUP. The REV UP Campaign offers a host of resources on the 2016 election, registering to vote, ways to drive civic engagement, and a compilation of state-specific resources and events.

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is a convener, connector, and catalyst for change, increasing the political and economic power of people with disabilities. As a national cross-disability rights organization AAPD advocates for full civil rights for the 50+ million Americans with disabilities. Learn more at www.aapd.com