The disability community urged to vote
By Taylor Sweeting
Earlier this summer, Connecticut’s Department of Developmental Services sent letters to guardians and state guardians of adults with disabilities who live in state institutions, explaining that residents there would “soon be offered an opportunity to register to vote or to participate in voting.”
Efforts to register the disability community to vote are part of a broader state initiative aimed at improving voter access for people living with disabilities, spurred by the advocacy of disability rights groups.
“People have the right to vote, and equal access to the voting system is important,” said Kasey Considine, legal director of Disability Rights Connecticut. “If people with disabilities don’t have equal access, then obviously the concern from our organization’s perspective is: Do we have a discriminatory system?”
This initiative isn’t just a priority of the state of Connecticut. Here in Illinois — in fact, right here in Jacksonville — the disability community is hard at work making their vote heard. too.
On Thursday, October 29 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., the Jacksonville Area Center for Independent Living (JACIL), along with the Morgan County Clerk’s Office (Jacksonville Court House, 300 W. State St.), will be hosting a Disability Early-Vote Day for all Morgan County residents.
This initiative is aimed at providing an accommodated experience for voters living with disabilities to make their voices heard, and to allow inclusive access to their right to vote. ASL interpreters will be provided as well.
JACIL strives to create equal access across the board for our consumer base, and with this crucial election coming up this November, it is more important than ever to provide equal access to exercise this American right.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees equal access and reasonable accommodations for all persons with disabilities to have both access to voting and access to any reasonable accommodation to ensure they can vote.
It is by the ADA’s standards that states provide this access to its residents living with disabilities; this is the law of the land. Even so, disability self-advocates continue to push for equal access and reasonable accommodations for the disability community.
We have a phrase in our community: “Nothing about us, without us.” This is something so many of us live by. For people living with disabilities, this is just life; what others may see as a disability or hindrance is simply a part of our daily reality. Because of this, disability self-advocates continue to raise awareness of what is needed for us to be contributing members of our communities and how we can be the best and most effective versions of ourselves.
For most Americans, voting is a right that many do not even have to think about, often times it’s that pesky thing you have to do every four years if you get around to doing it or have the time.
For the disability community, this is an artery for our survival. Exercising our vote to make our voices heard and to bring awareness to what is going on in our community and how our elected officials can support us can mean the difference between supporting a candidate who wants to support disability SSI and advocate for equal access into all buildings in our community versus a candidate who might get to these “issues” if they can.
Do not miss this opportunity to exercise this vital right. Please feel free to contact JACIL at 217-245-8371 for more information.
Let’s get our vote on! See you Oct. 29!
**Taylor Sweeting has Asperger’s syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum, plus Type 2 diabetes and Marfan syndrome. Sweeting is a Special Olympics athlete and coach who has earned numerous medals competing himself. Notedly, he is also the first Special Olympics athlete to be elected to the Special Olympics Illinois Executive Committee. Sweeting works as the program manager at Jacksonville Area Center for Independent Living (JACIL), where he assists other persons with disabilities.
