Please reprint this in your newsletter!
JUSTICE FOR ALL
jfa(AT)mailbot.com
Please Send Your Election Story!
Hi,
I hope you will respond to this important survey!
If you have not yet sent your election stories,
please respond as soon as possible!
If you already sent them, thanks, very much.
Please send your answers to these questions to me
by replying to this e-mail message or by mailing
or faxing your responses to "Election Stories" at
the address or FAX number below!
Fred
--Please respond by June 12, 1998, 5 p.m. EST.
(If that date has passed, PLEASE respond now! Thank you in advance for your participation.)
Please hit "Reply to Sender" and type in your responses. Then just pres the "Send" key. The responses will then be forwarded to my Internet address and tallied.
--It is time for the disability community to come together to advance the agenda of equality and opportunity to include empowering persons with disabilities to participate in the political process. That means increases in voter registration, voting rates, being informed on the issues, running for office or activity involved in campaigns or to do what ever it takes to chart a course into the next century. It is only through this kind of active participate will the barriers to employment, health care, and other social and recreational pursuits be torn down.
We need to hear from you:
How accessible and inclusive is the election process that impacts your life?
That is the question that a growing number of advocacy organizations are asking, and they need your help.
Advocacy groups have heard stories that many people with disabilities have experienced difficulties registering to vote, voting, and participating in the political process.
Have any of the following ever happened to you (or someone you know)? Please fill in the blanks:
* You can't get into your polling place because it is not physically accessible?
_____________________________________________________
* You can get into your polling place, but the voting booth is not accessible?
______________________________________________________
* You do not receive accommodations when voting?
______________________________________________________
* You cannot get a ballot in an alternative format?
______________________________________________________
* You cannot get campaign materials in an alternative format?
_____________________________________________________
* You cannot go to campaign events because they are held in inaccessible locations?
______________________________________________________
* You cannot go to campaign events because there are no interpreters provided
______________________________________________________
* You were treated in a paternalistic or condescending manner by people managing a campaign or at the polls by workers with negative attitudes toward people with disabilities.
______________________________________________________
Or there may be other examples of how people with disabilities are being treated unequally on similar issues involving voting and elections.
This committee is seeking stories of how people with disabilities are being treated when they go to the polls, register to vote, go to campaign events, seek information, or generally participate in the electoral process.
If you have a story to tell about how you (or someone you know) were treated recently when voting, or going to a campaign event, etc. please mail, fax, or e-mail a short summary to:
Mail: Election Stories c/o GSILF P.O. Box 7268 Concord, N.H. 03302-7268
Fax: (603) 225-2077
e-mail: jfa(AT)mailbot.com
-- Fred Fay jfa(AT)mailbot.com Justice For All Moderator http://www.mailbot.com/justice--------- End forwarded message ----------
_____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]