On July 6th, 2016 ADA Live! presents The Disability Vote: The Sleeping Giant Wakes Up! Continuing with the disability and voting theme (voting access), the upcoming episode discusses the disability vote, the importance of people with disabilities casting their vote, and participating in the electoral/political process. There were approximately 39.6 million people with disabilities living in the United States in 2014, accounting for roughly 12.6 percent of the overall U.S. population. Of those individuals with disabilities, 92.3 percent were of voting age (18 years and older), yet eligible citizens with disabilities are less likely to vote than eligible citizens without disabilities (http://www.disabilitycompendium.org/docs/default-source/2015-compendium/annualreport_2025_final.pdf & https://www.supportthevoter.gov/files/2013/08/Disability-and-Voting-White-Paper-for-Presidential-Commission-Schur.docx_.pdf).
In addition to the ADA Live! episodes, check out our latest issue of reSearch on enfranchisement and people with disabilities for information on the history of federal legislation protecting the rights of voters with disabilities, citations from REHABDATA, and more! These resources are timely as Americans will be heading to the polls in November to decide who will be the next President of the United States.
