Demographics is the buzzword of current post-election analysis. Outlets like ABC News are crediting women, Latinos, and African-Americans for making the difference in re-electing President Obama. But so far there has been no breakdown of how people with disabilities may have voted — or how many went to the polls — on Tuesday to vote in the race for president as well as federal, state, and local officials.
We do know the outcomes of a couple issues on state ballots that directly impacted people with disabilities, including the rejection of Question 2 here in Massachusetts, which would have legalized assisted suicide. Steven Ertelt’s story for LifeNews.com quotes John Kelly, Director of Second Thoughts — People with Disabilities Opposing Question 2 as saying the feeling among his constituents is that assisted suicide limits choice for people with disabilities even though the intention of such legislation is to expand it.
Meanwhile, employment opportunities for people with disabilities was a referendum issue in Maryland. The Gazette staff writer Kate S. Alexander wrote on Wednesday that Question A was approved by 80% of voters in Montgomery County, giving officials authority “to recruit and hire qualified individuals with severe physical and mental disabilities on a noncompetitive basis.” City Councilman Philip M. Andrews told Alexander that legislation to establish a hiring program has already been written and will be introduced next week.
Even without the hard data to back it up, the outcomes on these ballot issues indicate that people with disabilities were indeed active in this year’s political process. One could argue that no voting bloc faced greater challenges to its ability to vote during this election. Some of the challenges had to do with lack of accessible voting facilities, while others were legal; which made stories about individuals like Clinton Gode all the more triumphant.
Gode has been working hard to overturn outdated laws regarding mental competence in Arizona. Deanna Pan of Mother Jones summarized his efforts the day before the election. Then Karina Bland captured Gode’s journey and joy in exercising his constitutional right for The Arizona Republic on Wednesday:
Instead of filling out a paper ballot, Clinton voted on an AccuVote-TSX, an electronic voting system for people with disabilities. It offers features such as magnification and audio assistance for people who are visually impaired or can’t read… Clinton has trouble reading, but he followed political news on television and the radio and even attended a candidates forum. He had marked a sample ballot at home and took it with him as a guide.
It would be cliche to say that the country would be in better shape if everyone were as diligent as Clinton Gode about being involved in the political process. It would also be true. What Gode and the millions of other individuals with disabilities showed on Tuesday was that they have a voice in making life matter for themselves, and that voice can be equally strong as that of any other American demographic. Politicians, take heed.
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