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AAPD Every Disability Vote Count For Immediate Release: November 2, 2020... 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. ... https://mailchi.mp/aapd/every-disability-vote-counts-2020

A federal judge on Monday ruled against Republican plaintiffs who sought to throw out 127,000 ballots cast by drive-thru voting in a Democratic-leaning Texas county. District Judge Andrew Hanen ruled Monday that the plaintiffs lacked standing in the case and that the votes in Harris County would stand. The four plaintiffs, three of which are GOP candidates, had claimed the drive-thru polling stations were an illegal expansion of curbside voting, an option Texas makes availabl...e only to physically disabled voters. ... https://thehill.com//524046-gop-challenge-to-texas-drive-t

A guide to maintaining your mental health ahead of Election Day A list of mental health resources you might need and the helpful parts of the internet where you can find them. By Anagha Srikanth | Nov. 2, 2020 ...... https://thehill.com//524003-a-guide-to-maintaining-your-me

Claudia L Gordon Esq My voting squad is all fired up Black Deaf women’s vote matters. One more day left and we’re doing everything to make it count cuz we gotta finish strong. Go get your squad and vote...vote early! #CripTheVote #DisabilityCoalition #BidenHarris2020 #VoteEarly https://twitter.com/claudialgor/status/1323264064311709697

#cripthevote As we approach Election Day and whatever occurs in the days after, here are some helpful resources to help us all manage our worries, hopes, and reactions. Special thanks to Jack Rosen, Voter Engagement Specialist at the National Disability Rights Network for sharing some of these links. ... http://cripthevote.blogspot.com//pre-and-post-election-inf

Alameda County Information for Voters with Disabilities The Alameda County Registrar of Voters' Office is committed to providing the fundamental right to all voters by ensuring they can vote independently and privately.The Alameda County Registrar of Voters' Office is committed to providing the fundamental right to all voters by ensuring they can vote independently and privately. ...... https://www.acvote.org/accessibility

MSNBC OPINION First-time voters with disabilities are eager to vote Trump out These young adults with disabilities are speaking out by showing up at the polls to vote against a president who bullied them.... Nov. 2, 2020, 2:08 AM PST By Liz Plank The day after Donald Trump was elected in 2016, I rushed to Union Square in New York City in the freezing rain to capture people's reactions. There was one man I spoke to whom I never forgot: Jack Catalano, a special education teacher at PS 226 in Manhattan, who told me he had spent all day comforting his inconsolable students with disabilities. He told me they had come into school that morning in tears after watching the person who mocked people like them on the national stage become the most powerful leader in the world. ... https://www.msnbc.com//first-time-voters-disabilities-are-

Florida Officials Aim To Make Voting Easier For People With Disabilities For people with disabilities, it's not always easy to vote. In Florida, several counties are trying out a new system to help voters with disabilities have more privacy when they cast their ballots. ... https://www.npr.org//florida-officials-aim-to-make-voting-

Here's a tool to better assess COVID risk in your life and learn what steps you can take to help you manage that risk.

Persons with Disabilities and Addressing Inequalities in our Cities and Communities 28 October 2020 With the devastating impact of COVID-19, cities everywhere are facing key challenges in ensuring that the basic needs of people living in hardship are met. As cities implement actions to strengthen public services in the face of the pandemic, they must also provide equal access to technology, education, livelihoods and services that strengthen the health and well-being of all, ...with particular focus to the most vulnerable social groups to leave no one behind. Early this year, the UN World Social Report reported that even before the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic our world faced historically high levels of inequality. Persons with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to rising inequality and poverty. Of the nearly 1 billion persons with disabilities, an estimated 80% live in cities across developing countries, often in poverty. ... https://www.un.org///disabilities-inequalities-cities.html

AAPD NATIONAL AND TEXAS-BASED DISABILITY RIGHTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS ISSUE STATEMENT ON LAWSUIT CHALLENGING VALIDITY OF DRIVE-THRU VOTING For Immediate Release: November 1, 2020... Contact: Keri Gray, [email protected] WASHINGTON, DC Leading disability and civil rights organizations in Texas and across the country call the lawsuit challenging validity of drive-thru voting a threat to the rights of voters with disabilities. Organizations call upon the court to uphold the constitutional rights of all voters and ensure that the over 120,000 votes cast by drive-thru voting in Harris County, Texas, are counted. The undersigned national and Texas-based disability and civil rights organizations are deeply concerned with the recent lawsuit challenging the validity of more than 120,000 votes in Harris County, Texas, cast via drive thru voting. The suit claims that drive-thru votingpreviously utilized in August of 2020 without objectionis somehow invalid in November of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges for individuals and election officials alike. Individuals have been forced to negotiate concerns between reducing their risk of exposure to the coronavirus and participating in democracy. Elections officials have been forced to determine how to reduce the burden of such a choice on voters by establishing protocols that promote safe, secure, and accessible elections. For older voters and voters with disabilities, people who regularly face barriers at the polls and who are at a heightened risk for COVID-19, solutions like drive-thru voting make it possible to participate in the general election while mitigating risk of exposure to the virus. With this lawsuit, now more than 120,000 Texan voters, voters who followed the rules, made a safe voting plan, and exercised their constitutional right to vote, are now all at risk of having their votes not counted. ... https://mailchi.mp//leading-disability-rights-organization