Transcript of “Rights Here, Rights Now - Episode 8: Voting.” produced by the disAbility Law Center of Virginia.                                                            

[NARRATOR]:            The information provided on this podcast does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. Instead, all information, content and materials available are for general informational purposes only.

[Intro Music: Light rhythmic percussion beats, finger snaps & hand claps]

[VIRGINIA]:                 Welcome to Rights Here, Rights Now, the podcast about disability advocacy and activism I'm your Advocate host, Ren Faszewski.

[VIRGINIA:                  And I’m your advocate host Virginia Pharis.

[REN]:                         Every 2 weeks we dig into relevant issues, current events and avenues for self-advocacy. Someone has to and it might as well be us!

[VIRGINIA]:                 This podcast is produced by the disAbility Law Center of Virginia, the Commonwealth’s protection and advocacy agency for disability rights. Find out more at www.dlcv.org

[REN]:                         So, what are we talking about today?

[VIRGINIA]:                 Voting!

[REN]:                         Voting, it’s very important.

[VIRGINIA]:                 It’s so important and it’s happening and it’s happening soon. The primaries are coming up for those of you that are listening in Virginia, which is probably all of you. Certainly, let us know if it’s not.

[REN]:                         I think the best bet is that they’re mostly from Virginia.

[VIRGINIA]:                 As we’re the disAbility Law Center of Virginia our primaries are going to be on March 3rd. So, we’re going to try to prepare you guys for that.

[REN]:                         And we’ll be speaking to one of our favorite advocates Joliefawn about what she has to say about voting and all the good stuff about it.

[VIRGINIA]:                 Before we jump in to that, here’s disability in the news.  

[NARRATOR]:            Despite promises to protect social security benefits, the Trump administration’s latest budget proposal proposed an estimated $71 billion in proposed cuts to the program. The spending plan includes an additional layer of reviews to the social security process. Including reviews evaluating whether or not individuals are ready or not to go back to work. The Social Security Administration already has stricter standards for qualifying for benefits compared to private plans or other government agencies. A worker is considered disabled for eligibility for benefits if they have a severe medical or mental condition that persists for a year or could result in death. At the same time, the 2021 budget proposed by the Social Security Administration also includes a proposal for individuals to pay an additional fee if they lose their social security card. This could be an additional burden to those receiving social security and who are on a limited income. Find out more at CNBC.com

[REN]:                         Ok well today we are sitting down with DLCV staff member Joliefawn. Thank you so much for coming Joliefawn and I want you to tell me everything about disability and voting, everything right now!

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Oh of course, of course, I’m ready (laughs)

[REN]:                         Well let’s start with the reason we decided to do this topic. Right now, as of recording we’re in mid-January and some big events are coming up in February. Tell us about these primaries.  

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Well thank you for having me this morning, we’ll be headed out, the staff, this upcoming March 3rd for the primaries.

[REN]:                         I was so wrong it’s totally March.

[VIRGINIA]:                 She said February, she’s lying to our listeners! (laughs)

[JOLIEFAWN]:            I was not paying attention I was totally gearing up for March 3rd ! Our staff always goes out to hit the streets to do some surveying of the polling sites. To make sure that out polling sites across Virginia are accessible to voters with disabilities.

[VIRGINIA]:                 So, what does it mean for a polling place to be accessible?

[JOLIEFAWN]:            So what that means are things like curb side voting. That means that if a voter drives up to the polling site they do not have to get out of their vehicle. There is some indication, like a sign with a number or a volunteer is there to assist them to do the exact same thing as if they went in to the polling site to vote. They can do everything from their vehicle and then they drive on off.

Also, accessible parking near a path of travel where they can easily get out of their vehicle and a clear path of travel to the front door of that polling site things of that nature. Also going to their poling site, the door is accessible with a closed fist, where they do not have difficulty opening up the door. Once they enter the facility, they also have accessible equipment for people with visual impairment and they can use that equipment with ease and independence.

Also, where a person in a wheelchair can easily go up their voting booth and be able to have no issue with voting with no assistance.

[VIRGINIA]:                 If they put that machine 4 of 5 feet in the air, I can imagine that would not be good.

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Absolutely not. We look for things like that to make sure that persons with disabilities have no problem voting at their precinct. So, these are things we’re looking for when we head out.

[REN]:                         And I imagine, I was specifically thinking of curb side voting, you dot have to necessarily disclose the nature of your disability to access these things. You just have to say I need to utilize these accessible, either the curbside voting or, you don’t have to explain the exact nature of your disability to access that.   

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Not at all, you just ride up to the curbside voting, see the sign and give you voter registration card as any other voter.

[VIRGINIA]:                 So, if one of our dear listeners, it’s the morning of march 3rd, their excited to vote, and they go and the need to use curb side voting and there isn’t curb side voting or they see another issue, what should they do?

[JOLIEFAWN]:            They can let us know. We do have online access on our website that they can send us a note well they can fill out the complaint form to let us know they had issues at that voting site so we can follow-up to find out why there wasn’t accessible curbside voting at that site.

[VIRGINIA]:                 Can they call? Or do they need to use the online form? 

[JOLIEFAWN]:            They can call. Every voting day we have someone manning the phones at our agency to let us know there was not curbside voting, or there was no accessible parking or there was not accessible equipment. We would like to know on that that day there was an issue and they can call us also on that day.

[REN]:                         Is there anyone else like a voting board or a registrar.

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Absolutely! They can always call their local registrar office to file a complaint to let them know their precinct wasn’t accessible. That is always a choice too, because they have access to that number as well, they call and let them know I tried to vote wasn’t able to, and tell them what the issue is. We can also provide that information if they weren’t aware re of their registrar’s name and information.

[VIRGINIA]:                 So, I’m going to play devil’s advocate for a minute.

[REN]:                         You don’t need to; why are you doing this? (laughs)

[VIRGINIA]:                 Since mail in ballots, absentee voting is a thing, why is it important that polling places are accessible?

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Oh, because it’s everyone’s right to vote. And if I go out to vote I should have the same right and accessibility as anyone else.

[REN]:                         I think this is one of those issues in disability rights that many people are not aware of. It makes sense when you say voting should be accessible. I imagine this is covered under the ADA and other federal regulations and things of that nature saying yeah all of this needs to be accessible.

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Absolutely, That’s why as an agency, that’s why we go out to look and see if they’ve made any chances per our recommendations.

[VIRGINIA]:                 Cause we’ve done this before.

[JOLIEFAWN]:            We go out every year, well every voting year. My correction (laughs)

[VIRGINIA]:                 In some of those previous ones, if we encounter a county let’s just say that has almost no curbside voting, how do we get in contact with the county to say what’s going on, what are you doing?

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Well we would write the registrar and send them a letter and inform them that, “we were out doing surveying and we noticed that there was no curbside voting at your precinct” or there was no sign or if there was a sign there was no volunteer to assist or what the issue was. Or if we noticed there was no accessible parking nearest the entry.

[REN]:                         That is something, cause I know I helped survey polling sites in November and I think that’s a thing people really get confused about with accessible parking, Cause although these places have accessible parking but the polling sites are at a different entrance and they don’t move the accessible parking to the new entrance for the voting place.

[JOLIEFAWN]:            And that’s the issue, they will open the door that’s not the closest to the accessible parking and that’s where we’ll have to inform them that accessible parking needs to be the closest to the entry where you’re opening the door or towards the ramp. Things of that nature. Sometimes they’re not thinking in that manner. So, things like a quick reminder or notation to make them aware of what door they use. Sometimes there might be a meeting going on in these locations. Some of these precincts they’re using schools, so they’re also having education meetings or something in the lunchroom and they need to use a different entrance. That’s all well and good, but the issue is you also need to take aware of the individuals that are coming in to your precinct for voting. And you need to abide by those laws and regulations as well.

[REN]:                         I think also, again this it’s something I remember from my surveying, but like when you say for curbside voting there needs to be a volunteer to assist the person with that and this doesn’t mean the campaign people out there.

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Thank you! That’s a good point, thank you making that distinction, there are volunteers that are out there but most of the time those are campaign workers and they have to be separate. They are not allowed to go in the building, which they should not, sometimes they do. Because they want them to vote, absolutely want that person with a disability to vote and have that opportunity but they should not be going in and grabbing someone and covering up who they work for to grab someone. It should be someone that is working within the polling site. Separate person, sometimes what will happen is there will be a number on the curbside voting sign where you can call. But it would be helpful if there was someone manning the curbside voting that works with the registrar’s location. So, its would be the perfect life if we could have someone working at both the number and curbside voting, when you drive up you have someone there to assist you and just go on.

[VIRGINIA]:                 So, if any if our dear listeners have gotten riled up and excited about this accessible voting things and they want to help us survey polling sites across the state how do they do that?    

[JOLIEFAWN]:            That would be great!  Because this past November there was a great outpour of volunteers surveying their own polling sites, helping us poll and we always welcome them. If they would go on to our website, we always have volunteer opportunities for voters to go out and fill out their own survey sheets. And that’s on our website under the voting clip. On our website its very easy to find, and that will be up and running on time for elections.

[REN]:                         So again, Joliefawn why don’t you remind us of upcoming primaries and accessibility and what people need to do about surveying.

[JOLIEFAWN]:            Yes, on March 3rd we will be headed out to survey polling sites across Virginia, please keep in mind we would welcome people with disabilities to survey, family members to survey. Let us know if your polling site is accessible by going to dclv.org click on the link that says voting, it’ll be up intime for the primaries and just let us know what’s accessible and what’s not accessible. We welcome all volunteers for this opportunity.  And thank you so much for listening.

[REN]:                         Well that was incredibly informative. It’s super important. I think it’s this basic level community engagement to make sure everyone can vote. Thank you for sharing this topic with us we really appreciate it. Thank you Joliefawn!

[JOLIEFAWN]:            You’re welcome ladies it’s a pleasure!

[NARRATOR]:            And now a dLCV Highlight!

The Virginia General Assembly is in the post-crossover stage of the legislative session where each house of the state legislature decides on bills that began on the other side. dLCV works to educate policymakers and the public  about the potential impact about legislative proposals. We post regular legislative highlights regarding bills that affect the disability community, such as special education, guardianship, and mandatory outpatient treatment. You can learn more at www.dlcv.org/category/legislative-highlights and please reach out to us if there is something we should know about. Those are the dLCV highlights. Tune in next time to hear more about what dLCV is doing on behalf of people with disabilities.

[VIRGINIA]:                 So, thank you again to Joliefawn for coming in and talking to use about voting.  I hope that you you’ll will be able to get out there and vote on March 3rd or vote absentee sometime before that.

[REN]:                         And if you’re able to it would be great to have your participation and be able to complete the survey, the more people who are able to go those polling sites and let us know what’s happening the more we know abouts what’s going on.

[VIRGINIA]:                 So, go to our website dlcv.org checkout what you can do let us know if your polling place is accessible. Does it have curbside voting? Can you get in the door? These are important things!

[REN]:                         Very important things!

[REN]:                         So, thank you for listing to this episode of Rights Here, Rights now. Brought to you by the disAbility Law Center of Virginia. We are available on Apple podcast, Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review.

[VIRGINIA]:                 If you need assistance or want more information on DLCV and what we do visit online at www.dlcv.org

[REN]:                         Follow us on twitter @disabilityLawVA and share us with your friends.

[VIRGINIA]:                 Until next time I’m Virginia Pharis

[REN]:                         And I’m Virginia, this has been

[SAME TIME]:            Rights here, Rights now.