REV UP! It’s Time to Vote!
REV UP: Register, Educate, Vote, Use your Power
It’s Time to Vote!
Many people associate the changing of seasons, sweaters, pumpkin spice everything and football season with the fall – but sometimes we forget about the connection to civic responsibility. November is quickly approaching and so is Election Day, a day when we can all participate in the right and privilege of voting!
Eligible voters with disabilities and their family members make up an estimated 25% of the electorate across our country! As family members of people with disabilities we need to be motivated to take action on disability issues, and do what we can to support our adult children to know the issues and express their opinions by voting. Our voting rate during mid-term elections is significantly lower than during a presidential election year—which means that the 40% of people who DO vote are making decisions for all of us! What would it look like if each and every person impacted by a disability voted this year?
In Colorado, everyone has the right to vote and a variety of accommodations are available to ensure that this happens. At first glance, a ballot can look overwhelming but there are resources available that can help you and your family members work through it! The Colorado Cross Disability Coalition has a voter guide developed for people with disabilities and their families with an explanation of the major offices and issues. Rev Up publishes an issues guide that helps voters, advocates, and candidates be better informed about issues that matter to people with disabilities.
One of our P2P Moms shared what voting looks like in her family with two adult children with disabilities. “We get together for a family dinner and afterwards everyone has their ballots. We read through a voter guide and talk about the candidates and issues and answer any questions. Then everyone votes their ballot as they see best – we don’t all agree on how to vote because we have a variety of viewpoints in our family. But we all do agree on the importance of supporting each other to vote!”
Need some additional motivation? Check out these videos for information on why mid-term elections are so influential and some motivation for young people to vote!
Let’s prove that we are paying attention, let’s prove that we care about issues that impact people with disabilities! Let’s shake things up, by speaking out with our vote! The results could be historic if all 25% of us expressed our opinions and preferences this November!
The Rev Up Campaign aims to increase the political participation of the disability community while also engaging candidates and the media on disability issues. REV Up stands for Register! Educate! Vote! Use Your Power!
For additional resources about voting:
- It’s Not Too Late to Register!
- Where Do I Vote in Colorado?
- Uber and Lyft are offering free rides to the polls on election days
- Disability Visibility Project Voting Topics
- Rock the Vote Understand Your Vote Rights
- Self advocates becoming empowered Go Voter Project
- The Vote 4 Medicaid project is working to increase awareness about the value of Medicaid among voters.
