For Immediate Release: November 2, 2020
Contact: Keri Gray, kgray@aapd.com
WASHINGTON, DC – Tomorrow, November 3rd, is Election Day, and over 91 million voters have already cast their ballots by mail or in person during early voting! Polling sites will be open across the country in less than 24 hours, and there is still time to take your ballot to an official state drop box location. If you have not yet cast your ballot please do so – your vote is your way of representing yourself and your community and contributing to the decisions that influence our daily lives. To support you and those within your network prepare to vote this election and answer any questions you may have, check out AAPD REV UP’s Voting in 2020 page for state voting guides, FAQs, and more. Vote in 2020, and then spread the word to encourage others to vote in the general elections.
If you plan to vote in-person on Election Day, prepare for longer than usual lines at your polling place, know your rights ahead of time, and learn about what will be on your ballot. If you have an absentee or vote-by-mail ballot, make sure to complete it and hand-deliver it, if possible. Mail-in ballots and remote accessible ballots have allowed many voters with disabilities with pre-existing conditions and those in nursing homes and other congregate settings to cast their ballot safely. In 37 states, the ratio of votes cast by mail during the primaries is nearly double 2018’s mail-in votes in the primaries. The increase in mail-in ballots may delay election results, because:
- More than one third of states and DC accept ballots after Election Day as long as they are postmarked by November 3 (each of these states specifies a receipt deadline between November 6 and November 20).
- Several states will not start counting mail-in ballots until Election Day.
- Several states have already declared that they will not announce the official mail-in ballot count on election day.
This means we may need to wait a little longer than election might to know election results, and that means that our election officials in each of the 50 states and D.C. are doing their job to collect, verify, and count ballots to ensure election results are accurate.
If you have any difficulties when voting, you can also reach out to your local Protection and Advocacy organization. There are also several election hotlines you can contact, including the ASL Hotline at 301-818-VOTE (301-818-8683) and the Election Protection Hotline at these numbers:
- English, talk or text: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683)
- Spanish or English: 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682)
- Asian Languages or English: 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683)
- Arabic or English: 844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287)
We believe that our democracy only works for everyone when everyone can vote. The American Association of People with Disabilities believes that all votes matter, it is critical that our election officials support every vote matters, and it is critical to our democracy that every vote cast gets counted.
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AAPD is a convener, connecter, and catalyst for change, increasing the political and economic power of people with disabilities. As one of the leading national cross-disability civil rights organizations, AAPD advocates for the full recognition of rights for the over 60 million Americans with disabilities. AAPD’s programs and initiatives have been effective in mobilizing the disability community through communications advocacy; cultivating and training new and emerging leaders with disabilities through leadership development programs; increasing the political participation of Americans with disabilities and elevating the power of the disability vote through the REV UP (Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power!) Campaign; and advancing disability inclusion in the workplace through the Disability Equality Index (DEI) — the nation’s leading corporate benchmarking tool for disability equality and inclusion. To learn more about AAPD, visit www.aapd.com.
AAPD’s REV UP Campaign aims to foster civic engagement and protect the voting rights of Americans with disabilities. AAPD works with state and national coalitions on effective, non-partisan campaigns to address the concerns of people with disabilities, eliminate barriers to voting, promote accessibility of voting; educate communities about issues and candidates; promote turnout of voters with disabilities across the country; and engage candidates and the media on disability issues. Learn more about REV UP at www.aapd.com/revup.