MN UCEDD Develops New Voter Participation Resource for Young Adults with Disabilities

November 1, 2008

Election day is just weeks away, and to help motivate and teach young adults with disabilities about voting, and about other ways to participate in the political process, the My Voice, My Vote Web site (www.MyVoiceMyVote.org) has been launched by the Institute on Community Integration (ICI), University of Minnesota.

Historically, voter participation has been lower among people with disabilities than in the general population. Among the contributing factors is a lack of awareness about voter accommodations and how to use them. The site not only provides information about accommodations and voting rights, it also shows how to register to vote, provides links to resources that talk about issues and candidates, and describes other ways to be heard in the political process. A key feature of the Web site is a video of a workshop held by the project in which young adults with disabilities learned what it means to be a citizen and how to exercise one's right to vote; the video can be especially useful for teachers, service providers, advocates and others to use with groups.

Chris Bremer, project director, observes, "In doing the workshop, we saw how excited young adults with disabilities are about getting involved as citizens and voting. We hope this project contributes to increased participation in November and in future elections."

 My Voice, My Vote is a collaborative project of ICI, the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at the University's Humphrey Institute, Partnership Resources Inc., and the Minneapolis Public Schools, with assistance from the Minnesota Secretary of State's office. The project is funded by a $4,075 grant from the Charles and Mabel Williams Fund of the Minneapolis Foundation.

For further information about My Voice, My Vote contact Chris at (612) 625-7595.