REVUP Florida! – An Introduction

1. REVUP Florida! – An Introduction Speakers: Jason Hahr, ATV, Communications Chairperson Tony DePalma, Esq., Disability Rights Florida Deborah Dietz, Disability Independence Group June 7, 2019

2. Welcome from Jay

3. Introductions

4. History Voting Rights in the US & Disability Voting Rights

5. Article I, US Constitution

6. 19th Amendment (1920) 15th Amendment (1870) Gave American women the right to vote Gave African American men the right to vote

7. 26th Amendment (1971) 24th Amendment (1964) Lowered voting age for all elections to 18 Eliminated poll taxes

8. Civil Rights Act of 1871 (and ’57, ’60, ’64) Federal protections against voting discrimination

9. Voting Rights Act of 1965 Prohibited voter discrimination based on race, color or membership in a language minority group (voter intimidation, gerrymandering, lit. tests)

10. Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984 Required polling places to be accessible to people with disabilities

11. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990) & Help America Vote Act (HAVA) (2002) Voters with disabilities have the right to: vote in private, without help (2) have an accessible polling place with voting machines for voters with disabilities.

12. Statistics about voting with a disability

13. 2017 GAO report found that 83% of polling places surveyed on Election Day 2016 had impediments that hindered physical access or limited opportunities for private and independent voting for people with disabilities.

14. (Rutgers 2017) The overall voter turnout rate for people with disabilities (55.9%) was about 6% lower (3 million voters nationwide) than the rest of the population (62.2%) in the 2016 elections.- Note, however, that the turnout rate for employed people with (64.7%) and without disabilities (63.6%) was virtually identical.

15. Reported turnout varied by type of disability: (1) hearing impairment (62.7%); (2) difficulty walking or climbing stairs (55.9%); (3) visual impairment (53.7%); (4) difficulty going outside alone (44.7%); (5) difficulty dressing or bathing (44.6%); (6) mental or cognitive impairment (43.5%) (researchers calculated turnout by analyzing data from the US Census Bureau’s Current Populating Survey Voting Supplement, which uses six questions to determine whether a person has a disability).

16. Importance of Voting

17. Why Every Citizen Should Vote • Voting is a fundamental right • It is a way to express your opinion • It is a way to choose your leaders

18. How Votes actually have an impact • Democracy requires participation for it to work • Voting is a way to participate • If you want people to care about your issues • You must vote • If not, you are letting other people decide for you

19. Examples of Close Elections

20. 2017 – Virginia • Virginia House of Delegates race ended in a tie • Tie was broken by pulling a name out of a bowl. • Republican David Yancey was declared the winner. • This gave Republicans control of the state House by a single seat.

21. 2016 – Vermont • Vermont state Senate Democratic primary was determined by a single vote

22. 1994 – Wyoming • House of Representatives race, Republican Randall Luthi and Independent Larry Call tied. • Recount produced same results • Election settled by drawing a ping pong ball out of the governor’s cowboy hat.

23. AAPD’s formation of REV UP Campaign Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power!

24. The REV UP Campaign engages in nonpartisan activities to increase the political power of the disability community while also engaging candidates and the media on disability issues.State chapters began forming during 2016 Elections.

25. Formation of REV UP Florida prior to 2018 elections

26. Stakeholder calls • Broad participation from disability & voting/civil rights groups • Candidate questionnaires • Using consensus work model – Governor, US Senate, Attorney General • Post-election, formation of standing committees

27. Where we’re heading

28. Name Change - Access the Vote Florida (ATVFL) Website – www.accessthevote.org National Disability Voter Registration Week Presentation to CIL’s Additional outreach

29. 2018 CIL/DRF poll site surveys

30. What was measuredWhat was learnedWhere surveys were collected How many sites were reviewed

31. 2019 Outreach Efforts

32. Poll Worker Training & Recruitment • Voter Training and Education • Equipment Demonstration • Town Halls with Elected Officials • Candidate Forums & other events with candidates

33. Possibility of Issue Advocacy

34. How to do it right? • Need to update/inform/educate. • 2018 HAVA Funding to States • Access the Vote - Video production • What other state chapters are doing

35. What’s Next

36. Questions

37. Thank You Jason Hahrjasonhahr@gmail.com Tony DePalmatonyd@disabilityrightsflorida.org Deborah Dietz debbie@justdigit.org