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The NAD Says: Register to VOTE!
By advocacy | September 8, 2008
Are you registered to vote?
In 2004 – 18 percent of voting age citizens had not registered to vote.
Did you vote in 2004?
In 2004 – 64 percent of voting age citizens voted in the presidential election. That means 36 percent of voting age citizens did not vote.
Do you wonder – “Does my vote matter?”
Look at these elections:
2006 – Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty won the election by 1 percent of the votes.
2006 – Jon Tester beat Conrad Burns by less than 1 percent of the votes to become a U.S. Senator.
2004 – Washington Governor Christine Gregoire won by 129 votes.
2000 – Remember the “hanging chads,” recounts, and Supreme Court action in the 2000 presidential election, when the outcome was not determined for more than a month?
Every vote counts! Your vote counts!
Register to VOTE. Every state (except North Dakota) has a voter registration deadline. Register in time to vote in your state. Go to www.nad.org/Vote2008 to learn more.
Learn about the candidates and issues.
Support the candidates of your choice.
VOTE on November 4, 2008!
“People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote — a very different thing.” – Walter H. Judd
Topics: General |
September 8th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
I’ve been registered to vote
and I’ve voted in the primaries this recent spring–you’ll see me voting this november!
Ben
September 8th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
NAD:
I commend you for reminding the readers about the voting registration. It is of utmost importance that deaf people be registered voters.
Those who have been registered as “Independent” cannot vote in primaries.
Primaries in DC tomorrow.
58 days left before the General Election on Nov. 5!
Time flies!
September 8th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
I’m proud to say I have been registered to vote since 1985, and have voted in every single election everywhere I’ve lived, even if it meant taking a “crash course” in the candidates (such as when I moved to Iowa just a few months before some local elections). Every time I have moved, I have made sure to update my license and made sure I was properly registered to vote as soon as I did so.
Simply put, the right to vote is a precious right. Freedom isn’t free, it was paid for by the blood and sweat of warriors and statesment many years before us. If you do not vote, you have no right to complain. NONE.
September 18th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
true that Eddie Ruyon!
November 2nd, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I too vote in all elections at every level, every election. But I have to say that I was very disappointed, especially this year, that Election Protection, the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee did not have ANY TDD lines at all. Election Protection is a great group. They help people navigate the sometimes very difficult and confusing voting process and most importantly, they help people know how to protect themselves against voter fraud and voter suppression. Both parties are so enthusiastic this year about getting people out to vote, but neither of them provided a TDD line. I know we can call these numbers through the Relay Service, but there are many, many Deaf people in my state that still do not trust the relay service.
The bottom line is, this is perhaps the most important National Election of our lifetime. And if both parties and these voter protection groups can’t even put up one TDD number, then something is seriously wrong. If Deaf voters could make one TDD call and get access to this very important information, I believe it would make Deaf people much more enthusiastic about voting.
The process, at least in my State of Oklahoma, can be very non-Deaf friendly. So many people turned out to vote, it got very crowded and very confusing. I was standing there writing notes back and forth to this volunteer, because they changed the process this year for casting your ballots. The woman wrote to me and said, “stand over there and someone will “call” your name to come get your ballot.” Well, obviously that wouldn’t work for me so it made a confusing process even worse. If I could have called ahead of time and found out what the process was like, it would have helped both me and also the volunteers. The U.S. Government must make voting and voter information 100% accessible to every American…EVERY American and not having even one TDD line to call and get help, is inexcusable. I hope everyone will write to their Congressman and Senators and tell them that we have just as much right to be able to access these agencies and groups as hearing people do. Our government works for us…we don’t work for them. So tell them that something is wrong with the system and we want it fixed!