John M. Williams

Nationwide, people with disabilities believe that as the country approaches the November elections, Democrats and Republicans are missing the opportunity to reach out 46 million voting age individuals with disabilities, including millions of parents of school age children with disabilities. Like other Americans, adults with disabilities are concerned about a declining economy, the prospects of a war with Iraq and the possible veterans with disabilities resulting from the war, job losses, a healthier environment and government revenue losses impacting their benefits.

Like all special interest groups they have self interests they want the parties to protect and they are: enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act, (A lightning rod for uniting activists with disabilities and their families is politicians threatening to weaken the Americans with Disabilities Act legislatively.), ensuring access to public transportation, providing a prescription drug program, protecting Medicaid and Medicare benefits, granting greater access to assistive technology products, guaranteeing affordable public housing, implementing the Supreme Court’s decision on Olmstead v. L.C. and holding the schools accountable for the successful implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In fact, the party that developed a platform telling millions of parents of children with disabilities how they will improve IDEA next year could attract millions of voters and win control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in November. The tight Senate races in Iowa and Texas could be determined by persuading thousands of more voters with disabilities to vote.

“Protecting these interests means maintaining their independence, dignity and integrity and strengthening the country’s economy,” says Andy Imparato, president and CEO, American Association of Persons with Disabilities, Washington, DC.
As for IDEA’s powerful attraction, Mary Senne, the parent of an autistic son, Orlando, FL, says, “As a parent I would vote for any candidate Republican or Democrat who would possibly effect the compliance of IDEA by states and thus local school systems.”

The Parties’ Philosophies
The Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee have different approaches in persuading people with disabilities to vote. The RNC believes that the first President Bush signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 combined with the present president’s proposed New Freedom Initiatives Act and his issuing an executive order implementing the Olmstead Decision will persuade people with disabilities to vote Republican.

Announced on February 1, 2001 at a White House ceremony, the New Freedom Initiative is suppose to ensure that Americans with disabilities access the best technologies of today and that even better technologies will be available in the
future. At the core of this effort are proposals to: (1) reinvigorate the federal investment in assistive technologies and (2) improve promote private-public partnerships; and increase access to this technology for people with disabilities. The amount of money proposed last year was $1.8 billion.

On June 19, 2001, the president issued an Executive Order implementing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Olmstead v L.C. A year earlier, the court concluded that, under Title II of the ADA, states are required to place persons with mental disabilities in community settings rather than in institutions when the state’s treatment professionals have determined that community placement is appropriate, the transfer from
institutional care to a less restrictive setting is not opposed by the affected individual, and the placement can be reasonably accommodated, taking into account the resources available to the State and the needs of others with mental disabilities.

How well are these actions playing among people with disabilities nationwide? It’s true that people with disabilities remember former president George Bush for signing the ADA. A deaf Jim Edwards, Milwaukee, WI, says, “I voted for President Bush senior in 1992 because of his support for the ADA. Because of his father’s ADA support, I may vote for his son.”

In talking to people with disabilities, a few say they will vote Republican because of the NFI. (Every White House action in the disability field is tied to NFI.) Paraplegic Bob DeBeck, Chicago, IL, says, “I will vote for the president because of his NFI program.”

Most of the NFI has not been enacted legislatively, and it does not register legislatively in the vice president’s, and the House and Senate Republican leadership offices.

In the country community organizers working to persuade people with disabilities to vote are finding that the NFI is not persuading people with disabilities to register to vote Republican. Deb Stehr, Iowa and Minnesota organizer, Disability Vote Project, says, “In our outreach efforts to persuade people with disabilities to vote, President Bush’s New Freedom Initiatives program registers a flat zero.”

Don Kent, Montclair, VA, the parent of an adult autistic living at, home, says, “The president's New Freedom Initiative act or anything he has done in the disability field will not persuade me to vote for his party next month. Neither will anything else he has done in the disability field. As the father of an adult autistic son who lives at home, I am directly affected by public policy in this area.”

The president’s Executive Order on Olmstead is flat too, because it requires money from the federal and state governments, and neither level of government is cashing up to pay for implementation.

“The Executive Order was an appeasement to the states who don’t want to implement Olmstead. And so the Order is worthless,” says Susan Schneider, blind, Minneapolis, MN.
On the economy and jobs, people with disabilities worry that the president seems more interested in protecting his class than he is in their welfare.

“President Bush’s care for his buddies was illustrated in the proposal he sent to Capitol Hill for punishing crooked corporate executives. It was a paper slap on the wrist. His own party was embarrassed by it. He cares only for the rich. He cares nothing for people with disabilities who are struggling day by day to exist. He should propose a tax break program for people with disabilities,” says Sheryl McKinsey, New York City. McKinsey has Cerebral Palsy.

The Department of Labor reports that 70% of working age adults with disabilities between 18 and 64 are unemployed.

Unfortunately, people with disabilities did not benefit from the employment boom of the 1990s.

DNC’s Activities
The DNC has people with disabilities working on their campaign and held a youth rally at Gallaudete University in Washington, DC to encourage youths with disabilities to vote and to become involved in the political process. One of the DNC’s outreach efforts is using a national Telecommunications Directory listing telephone numbers of deaf and hard of hearing people. The DNC is calling people and asking them their opinions on the issues and encouraging them to vote. To my knowledge, this is the first national outreach effort of its kind in the country’s history. More than 40,000 people are listed in the directory.
“This is the first time in our country’s history that I know of a major political party outreaching to the deaf community this way,” says Willard Lowey, deaf, Miami, FL.
The DNC’s web site has a section on disability issues. The RNC does not. The DNC has talked to companies about making their web site accessible to people with disabilities, but not until after the election. No one at the RNC could tell me if they are talking to companies specializing in web accessibility.

The Democrats have their critics among people with disabilities who believe the Democrats are silent on civil rights issues, job protections, ensuring access to assistive technology and the web and protecting Medicare and Medicaid benefits.

On web accessibility, legally blind Marisa Rogers, New Orleans, LA, says, “The DNC’s Chairman Terry McAuliffe should be ashamed of himself for not making the party’s web site accessible months ago. It just shows how insensitive the Democrats are on accessibility issues. President Clinton signed the law implementing 508.”

Section 508 states that as of June 21, 2001, vendors selling hardware and software to the federal government must ensure it is accessible and usable by federal employees with disabilities. Also federal web sites must be accessible to people with disabilities. However, 508 does not apply to political parties’ web sites.

Enforcing civil rights is a hot bed issue for people with disabilities who are disappointed because they see Democrats retreating on an area vital to their future security.

“The Democrats should be talking to us about voting for them so they dictate who sits on the U.S. Supreme Court. The five to four conservative majority is killing the ADA,” says paralegal, paraplegic Archie McDermott, San Francisco.

The prospects of adding to the numbers of people with disabilities in this country and abroad worry people with disabilities who believe the Democrats have lost their nerve on opposing a possible war against Iraq.

“The Democrats should be asking the president and the country are we prepared to deal with large numbers of temporarily and permanently disabled veterans and give them the financial, legal, rehabilitation and job training they will require?” asked disabled Viet Nam, veteran Thomas Lawton, Seattle, WA.

Courting Voters with Disabilities
The parties believe that since voters with disabilities do not vote as a block there is no reason to court them in any special way. Disabled people think the Democrats are ignoring a natural voting block/ “Since most people with disabilities vote Democratic, the Democrats are ignoring a natural constituency,” says amputee Judith Robleski, Cleveland, OH.

With just over a month before the November elections, the parties have time to reach out to millions of voting age people with disabilities. People with disabilities say the parties should take these outreach steps :

1. Registering voters with disabilities. There have been national voting registration drives for African Americans, Hispanic Americans and women, but never a voting drive to register voters with disabilities. How many millions of people with disabilities need courting? “Since only 19 million voters with disabilities voted in 2000, that means 26 million voting age people with disabilities are waiting to be courted,” says Jim Dickson of Disability Vote Project, Washington, DC.
2. Ensuring people with disabilities have transportation and communications access to polling places.
3. Publishing campaign materials in Braille, large print and cassette tapes.
4. Ensuring their web sites are communications accessible. Software for accessibility costs $1,500. Neither the RNC and DNC web site are accessible. Fifteen hundred dollars is a drop of water compared to the floods of money the parties are spending to have a majority control of the House and Senate and state elected offices. With the White House supporting Section 508 of the 1998 Rehabilitation Act, it could take the lead and tell the RNC to make its web site accessible. The Democrats could follow or assume the lead and make their web site accessible.
5. Taking a strong stand on how they will make IDEA work when it is reauthorized next year, including holding the schools accountable for educating children with disabilities, regardless of the severity of a student’s disabilities. With more than five million children with disabilities in grades k-12, millions of parents of students with disabilities are waiting to learn which party will tell them what they will do to improve the teaching of their children so they can have a future. Neither the DNC and RNC web sites have IDEA listed on their issues areas. The RNC does not even have information on the NFI.
6. Addressing their issues at rallies and using sign-language interpreters at political rallies.
7. Using Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf to call deaf, hard of hearing and speech impaired people to learn where they stand on the issues and to encourage them to vote. Sensitivity to communications devices to outreach among deaf, hearing impaired or speech-impaired individuals is lacking at both the DNC and RNC offices. Neither committees not have a TTD phone either to call or to take calls from deaf and other users with disabilities.
8. Bringing people with disabilities into their campaigns as professionals and volunteers.
9. Close captioning or signing television ads.
10. Financially supporting a bi-partisan grass roots movement to register people with disabilities to vote.
    Bi-partisan voting registration drives to persuade people with disabilities to vote in November are occurring in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, New Jersey, Tennessee, Indiana, North Carolina, Missouri and New Hampshire. However, because are short of funds they are not doing effective outreaching. Community organizer Michael Kirby, Rehabilitation for Wisconsin, Madison, says, “Because we are short of funds we will only reach a fraction of the people with disabilities to educate them on the issues so they will vote in November.”
    “Wouldn’t it be nice to have President Bush attend a fund raising event sponsored by people with disabilities?” Kathy Joseph, San Diego, CA, asked. She believes while the president would not walk away with millions, he would set a new tone and show people with disabilities that he includes them in his party. She argues the Democrats could do a fund raiser with former President Bill Clinton as speaker. Joseph has Cerebral Palsy.
    There is a belief among advocates for people with disabilities that the parties are more interested in raising money from special interests than in dealing with issues.
    “It is glaringly obvious that only major money donors have a voice in either party,” says Kent.
11. Putting disability issues as priorities on the web sites of both parties.
    A complaint heard from politicians is “we can’t find people with disabilities.” There are scores of national organizations representing people with disabilities with offices in the Washington, DC area. They include the American Council for the Blind, Telecommunications for the Deaf, United Cerebral Palsy Association, Association for Retarded Citizens and others willing to use their publications and other resources to educate their constituencies on both party’s positions.
    

Valuing Voters
People with disabilities tell you that not very person with a disability was born with one. Police, fire fighters, Soldiers, and others serving their country become disabled in the line of duty. One would think out of respect for the personal price they paid that the parties would be cultivating these individuals. A disability does not mean people are less than first class citizens. Working people with disabilities are taxpayers, productive, and they have opinions.

News reports say that 17% of the electorate voted in primaries last month. These die-hard voters knowit was in their interest to vote. People with disabilities have to be persuaded that it is in their interest to vote. Both parties should respect the intelligence of people with disabilities and cultivate their votes. The country’s future depends on it.

“Any takers?” asked Joseph.

John Williams specializes in writing on disability issues.