Category: 2020 Campaign

The Voting Accessibility of the 2020 Election

Map of the United States color coded by 2020 presidential election results

The Voting Accessibility of the 2020 Election

Published by Ian Malesiewski on March 17, 2021

Washington, D.C., March 17 – After an unprecedented election season, Rutgers University’s Program for Disability Research and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) recently released a study of the voting accessibility of the 2020 elections. This study highlighted the differences between the voting experience of individuals living with and without disabilities. The report found that even in the unprecedented circumstances of the 2020 election, voters with disabilities were better accommodated than in the 2012 election. The study’s findings also shine a light on how much our nation still needs to grow to make sure that individuals living with disabilities can equitably cast their ballots.

Biden, Harris, Ossoff and Warnock, who reached out to voters with disabilities, to be sworn in today

Photos of Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Text: Inauguration 2021

Biden, Harris, Ossoff and Warnock, who reached out to voters with disabilities, to be sworn in today

Published by Eric Ascher on January 20, 2021

Washington, D.C., January 20 – Today is Inauguration Day, and that means that four candidates who reached out to voters with disabilities will be sworn into office. RespectAbility congratulates President-elect Joe Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and Senators-elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. We look forward to working with them on issues impacting voters with disabilities.

Reaching out to the disability community may have been part of the reason that these candidates won their elections. Researchers at Rutgers University estimated that approximately 38.3 million people with disabilities were eligible to vote in last year’s election, which is roughly one-sixth of the electorate. Voters with disabilities want access in democracy, just like anyone else. At the same time, they have specific issues of interest. For example, of the 22 million working age (18-64) people with disabilities in our country, fully 70 percent of them are outside of the labor force.

The one in four adults with disabilities include people with spinal cord injuries, low vision or who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing, as well as those with learning disabilities, mental health conditions, Autism or other disabilities. The sheer number of people with disabilities makes them the nation’s largest minority community.

Read more below about outreach to the disability community from these four candidates.

Ossoff, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Georgia Runoff

Published by Eric Ascher on January 7, 2021

Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 7 – In a runoff election dominated by Stacey Abrams, Donald Trump, and unprecedented spending by the campaigns and candidates, Democrat Jon Ossoff has defeated incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue, flipping the Senate to the Democratic Party.

While neither Senator-Elect Ossoff nor Senator Perdue responded to a detailed candidate questionnaire on disability issues put out by the national disability inclusion organization RespectAbility, Ossoff did release a video statement for the Georgia Disability Vote Partnership’s live streamed voting forum that featured all four candidates. Watch Ossoff’s statement above.

Warnock, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Georgia Special Election Runoff

Published by Eric Ascher on January 6, 2021

Atlanta, Georgia, Jan. 6 – In a runoff election dominated by Stacey Abrams, Donald Trump, and unprecedented spending by the campaigns and candidates, Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock has made history, defeating incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler to become Georgia’s first-ever Black Senator.

Senator-Elect Warnock responded to a detailed candidate questionnaire on disability issues put out by the national disability inclusion organization RespectAbility. RespectAbility is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to ending stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of their communities. Loeffler, despite multiple requests, did not respond to the questionnaire.

RespectAbility was not alone in reaching out to the candidates in the runoff elections on behalf of the disability community. The Georgia Disability Vote Partnership coordinated the efforts of disability advocacy organizations to get out the disability vote. The partnership hosted a live streamed voting forum featuring all four of Georgia’s Senate runoff candidates. Watch the video of Warnock’s remarks above.

Senate Voter Guide for 1.2 million Georgians with Disabilities

Photos of four candidates in Georgia Senate runoff elections. Georgia state flag in middle

Senate Voter Guide for 1.2 million Georgians with Disabilities

Published by GDVP on December 31, 2020

Atlanta, GA – The Georgia Disability Vote Partnership (GDVP) is proud to release its nonpartisan voter guide. Most of the partners of GDVP are nonprofit organizations and this voter guide is for educational purposes only, as GDVP does not rate or endorse candidates. The purpose of the guide is to help voters…

GA Sen. Kelly Loeffler Reaches Out to Voters with Disabilities

Kelly Loeffler wearing a mask and speaking to a reporter in front of a banner for her campaign

GA Sen. Kelly Loeffler Reaches Out to Voters with Disabilities

Published by Philip Pauli on December 31, 2020

Atlanta, Georgia, Dec. 31 – Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler has reached out to the 1.2 million Georgians with disabilities, responding to questions from Sign 1 News earlier this week.

Local disability organizations such as the Georgia Disability Vote Partnership (GDVP) and national groups such as RespectAbility have been reaching out to Democratic and Republican candidates about issues affecting people with disabilities, including employment, education, criminal justice and accessibility.

GA Sen. David Perdue Campaign Reaches out to Voters with Disabilities

David Perdue speaking into a microphone at an event

GA Sen. David Perdue Campaign Reaches out to Voters with Disabilities

Published by Philip Pauli on December 31, 2020

Atlanta, Georgia, Dec. 31 – Republican Sen. David Perdue’s campaign has reached out to the 1.2 million Georgians with disabilities in statement released earlier this week.

Senate Voter Guide for 1,246,077 Georgians with Disabilities

Published by Philip Pauli on December 29, 2020

Atlanta, Georgia, Dec. 31 – With the fate of the U.S. Senate at stake thanks to the hard-fought Georgia Senate Runoff campaign, the nonpartisan disability rights nonprofit RespectAbility has released its latest Georgia State Voter Guide. According to the 2019 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium, the total number of Georgians with disabilities is 1,246,077, making up 12.1 percent of the total state population.

2018 employment data shows that there are 658,811 working-age people with disabilities in Georgia. In the economic expansion prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 238,875 (or 36.3 percent) of those Georgians have a job.

RespectAbility has asked Democratic and Republican candidates for President, Governor and the U.S. Senate during the entire 2020 election cycle the same key questions about issues affecting people with disabilities, including employment, education, criminal justice and accessibility.

GA Senate Candidate Rev. Raphael Warnock Reaches Out to Voters with Disabilities

Published by Philip Pauli on December 29, 2020

Warnock Completed RespectAbility Candidate Questionnaire and Recorded Video Response for Georgia Disability Vote Forum

Atlanta, Georgia, Dec. 29 – Democratic Senate candidate Reverend Raphael Warnock has responded to a detailed candidate questionnaire on disability issues. The questionnaire is from RespectAbility, a nonpartisan nonprofit disability organization that does not endorse candidates. The questionnaire is purely for educational purposes.

Throughout the 2020 election, nonpartisan disability group RespectAbility has asked Democratic and Republican candidates for President, Governor and the U.S. Senate the same key questions about issues affecting people with disabilities, including employment, education, criminal justice and accessibility The full text of RespectAbility’s questions and Rev. Warnock’s responses follows:

GA Senate Candidate Jon Ossoff Reaches out to Voters with Disabilities

Published by Philip Pauli on December 29, 2020

Video statement on the intersection of disability issues in Georgia Senate Runoff

Atlanta, Georgia, Dec. 29 – Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff has reached out to the 1.2 million Georgians with disabilities in a video message released over the Christmas weekend.

However, it has only been in the final few hours of the campaign that candidates are starting to respond. The transcript of Ossoff’s comments can be found below:

Georgia Disability Vote Partnership Shines the Spotlight on the Disability Vote in the Senate Candidate Disability Forum

Poster advertising Georgia Disability Vote Partnership Senate Candidate Disability Forum. Photos of four Senate candidates from the forum.

Georgia Disability Vote Partnership Shines the Spotlight on the Disability Vote in the Senate Candidate Disability Forum

Published by James Trout on December 29, 2020

Washington, D.C., Dec. 29 – Control of the U.S. Senate depends on two runoff elections in the state of Georgia. While a lot of money is being spent by the candidates and other organizations to get out the vote, Georgia’s disability community has not been getting enough attention in these races. That started to change on Monday evening when the Georgia Disability Vote Partnership hosted a live streamed voting forum featuring all four of Georgia’s Senate runoff candidates. The forum showed answers from all candidates to the same questions: 1) Why is it so important for the disability community to be involved in the political process? 2) How do you plan to engage the disability community to be more involved and active in the laws, decisions and policies that affect our lives?

Georgia Disability Voter Access, Pollsters & Exit Polls

Published by Philip Pauli on December 28, 2020

As the nation waits for the Georgia Senate runoff next week, disability organization calls on pollsters and media to track disability participation and access.

Washington, D.C., Dec. 28 – With the political universe centered on the Senate runoff in Georgia, the unique needs and barriers of Georgians with disabilities could very well factor into to the outcome of the race. Thus, the national nonpartisan disability inclusion organization RespectAbility is asking pollsters, polling firms and political consultants to track voters with disabilities in their demographic data, as well as voter access exit polling.

According to the 2019 Annual Disability Statistics Compendium, the total number of Georgians with disabilities is 1,246,077, making up 12.1 percent of the total state population. 2018 employment data show that there are 658,811 working-age people with disabilities in Georgia. In the economic expansion prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 238,875 (or 36.3 percent) of those Georgians had a job.

Thus far, there has been little outreach to voters with disabilities from all four Senate candidates in the runoff race. As noted by RespectAbility in November, none of the four candidates even mention the word disability on their campaign websites. None of the Senate candidates’ websites are fully accessible to the 254,972 Georgians who are blind or low vision. And very few of the candidates’ videos have captions, making them inaccessible to the 328,000 deaf and hard of hearing Georgians.

New Focus Group Report Shows Lack Of Attention To Georgia Voters with Disabilities

Logos for Democracy Corps and Greenberg Research. Text: Focus Group Report: Engaging voters with disabilities in the Georgia runoff

New Focus Group Report Shows Lack Of Attention To Georgia Voters with Disabilities

Published by Eric Ascher on December 23, 2020

Washington, D.C., Dec. 22 – Control of the United States Senate depends on two runoff elections in the state of Georgia. While a lot of money is being spent by the candidates and other organizations to get out the vote, a new report about two focus groups indicates that Georgia’s disability community is not getting enough attention in these races. In fact, at the time these focus groups were conducted, none of the participants were able to recall having seen or heard anything from the Senate candidates regarding people with disabilities.

Screenshot of page one of the focus group memo

Read the focus group report

On behalf of RespectAbility and the Georgia Disability Vote Partnership (GDVP), Greenberg Research and Democracy Corps conducted 2 sets of online video focus groups among registered voters with disabilities in Georgia; one group of white women on December 16th and one group of Black women on December 17th. According to Greenberg Research and Democracy Corps, “for voters with disabilities, health care costs and accessibility are the dominant issues right now.”

Georgia Senate Candidates Deny Access to Voters with Disabilities

Published by Philip Pauli on November 12, 2020

Washington, D.C., Nov. 12 – Despite there being more than 1.2 million Georgians with some form of disability, all four Senate candidates in the most hotly contested Senate races in America have thus far failed to reach out to voters with disabilities. Indeed, none of the four candidates even mention the word disability on their campaign websites, and none of their websites are fully accessible to voters who are blind or deaf.

The failure of Georgia Senate campaigns to reach out to voters with disabilities is in stark contrast to President-elect Joe Biden who made outreach to the disability community a key part of his winning strategy. A poll conducted by Democracy Corps on behalf of RespectAbility in the major battleground states in the days leading up to Election Day found that 60 percent of voters with disabilities say they have or were planning to vote for Joe Biden, compared to 35 percent of voters with disabilities supporting President Trump. This showed a shift from 2016, when a poll conducted by Lake Research Partners and The Tarrance Group found that voters with disabilities split their votes between President Trump (46 percent) and Secretary Hillary Clinton (49 percent).

Tillis, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins North Carolina Senate Race

Thom Tillis walking down a hallway with a policewoman

Tillis, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins North Carolina Senate Race

Published by Stephanie Santo on November 10, 2020

Raleigh, NC, Nov. 10 – Incumbent Republican Senator Thom Tillis has won a hotly contested race to continue representing North Carolina in the U.S. Senate, beating Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham.

Tillis completed the 2020 Disability Voter Questionnaire for presidential, Senate and gubernatorial candidates put out by the national disability inclusion organization RespectAbility. RespectAbility is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to ending stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of their communities. Cunningham, in his attempt to unseat Sen. Tillis, also completed the RespectAbility questionnaire.

Collins, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Maine Senate Race

Senator Susan Collins smiling speaking to someone off camera with a crowd behind her

Collins, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Maine Senate Race

Published by Stephanie Santo on November 4, 2020

Portland, Maine, Nov. 4 – Incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins has won a hotly contested race to continue representing Maine in the U.S. Senate, beating Democratic challenger and Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Sara Gideon.

Sen. Collins completed the 2020 Disability Voter Questionnaire for presidential, Senate and gubernatorial candidates put out by the national disability inclusion organization RespectAbility. RespectAbility is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community. Gideon, in her attempt to unseat Sen. Collins, also completed the RespectAbility questionnaire.

Disability Allies Win Races for Senate & Governor

Headshots of seven candidates who won their elections after completing RespectAbility's disability questionnaire

Disability Allies Win Races for Senate & Governor

Published by Eric Ascher on November 4, 2020

Updated Nov. 10

Washington, D.C., Nov. 4 – It is the morning after Election Day 2020 and many results are still being counted. RespectAbility stresses the importance of counting every vote, particularly as many people with disabilities chose to vote early – both in-person and via mail – in this election due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several states have not counted all of their early voting ballots yet.

Although many results are still not finalized, several candidates who support opportunities for people with disabilities already have been declared as winners. These individuals completed the 2020 Disability Voter Questionnaire for presidential, Senate and gubernatorial candidates put out by the national disability inclusion organization RespectAbility. RespectAbility is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to ending stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of their communities.

Daines, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Montana Senate Race

Steve Daines speaking wearing a suit and tie

Daines, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Montana Senate Race

Published by Chinyere Azike on November 4, 2020

Helena, Montana, Nov. 4 – Incumbent Republican Senator Steve Daines has won a hotly contested race to continue to represent Montana in the U.S. Senate, beating Democratic challenger Gov. Steve Bullock.

Sen. Daines completed the 2020 Disability Voter Questionnaire for presidential, Senate and gubernatorial candidates put out by the national disability inclusion organization RespectAbility. RespectAbility is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to ending stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of their communities. Gov. Bullock, in his attempt to unseat Sen. Daines, also completed the RespectAbility questionnaire.

Cooper, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Second Term as North Carolina Governor

Cooper, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Second Term as North Carolina Governor

Published by Stephanie Santo on November 3, 2020

Raleigh, North Carolina, Nov. 3 – Democratic incumbent Roy Cooper has won a hotly contested race for the North Carolina Governorship, beating Republican challenger Dan Forest.

Gov. Cooper completed the 2020 Disability Voter Questionnaire for presidential, Senate and gubernatorial candidates put out by the national disability inclusion organization RespectAbility. RespectAbility is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to ending stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of their communities. Forest, despite multiple requests, did not respond to the questionnaire.

Hickenlooper, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Colorado Senate Race

Hickenlooper, Supporter of People with Disabilities, Wins Colorado Senate Race

Published by Philip Pauli on November 3, 2020

Denver, Colorado, Nov. 3 – Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has won a hotly contested race for the Colorado Senate seat, beating Republican incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner.

Senator-Elect Hickenlooper completed the 2020 Disability Voter Questionnaire for presidential, Senate and gubernatorial candidates put out by the national disability inclusion organization RespectAbility. RespectAbility is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to ending stigmas and advancing opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of their communities. Sen. Gardner, despite multiple requests, did not respond to the questionnaire.