#VoteDisability
Election 2016: 
Increasing the Disability Vote for Impact

2015 APRIL Annual Conference
Today’s Presenters

•	Michelle  Bishop
Disability Advocacy Specialist for  Voting Rights
National Disability Rights  Network

•	Ted Jackson
Community  Organizing  Director
California Foundation for  Independent Living Centers
Election 2016 Landscape
Past and Present Voter Turnout & Registration

•	2000
•	Voters without a disability- 52%
•	Voters with a disability- 41%
•	Gap of 11%

•	2012
•	Voters without a disability- 62.5%
•	Voters with a disability- 56.8%
•	Gap of 5.7%

•	*Registration has improved since 2000 when registration was estimated at 62% (with disability) versus 78% (without disability), a 16% gap versus a 2.3% gap in 2012 (69.2% vs. 71.5%). 
 
Election 2016 Landscape
•	Individuals with disabilities have had made successful advances in both voter turnout (from 41% to 56.8%) and registration rates (from 62% to 69.2%) over the years (from 2000 to 2012), yet persistent gaps still exist.

•	In the 2012 presidential election registered voters with disabilities voted nearly 6% less than registered voters without a disability.

•	Accordingly, There would be 3 million more voters with disabilities if they voted at the same rate as people without disabilities who are otherwise similar in age and other demographic characteristics. 

Election 2016 Landscape
What would 3 million extra voters look like?

•	2012 demographic groups (# of participating voters)
•	White, non-Hispanic- 98 million
•	Blacks- 17.8 million
•	Individual w/ disabilities- 15.6 million
•	Hispanic-11.2million
•	Asians- 3.9million
	
•	An extra 3 million voters with disabilities would make individuals with disabilities one of, if not the largest minority group of voting eligible Americans (15.6+3 = 18.6 million).  

•	#VoteDisability
Election 2016 Landscape
Why  2016?
•	25th Anniversary  of  the ADA – Renewed Energy

•	Presidential Candidates
•	Who  Want to continue programs?
•	Who is saying the ADA is unconstitutional?
•	Who’s  taking employment?
•	How are people with disabilities being characterized?

•	What’s at stake?

•	The Door has  opened-this is  our year!

Electoral Power
Power Analysis
What is Power?

•	How do you define power?

•	A simple definition: the ability to act

How Powerful Are We?
1. No one even knows who we are or have heard of our organizations.
2. We are considered a great charity.
3. We meet with our legislators annually and take photos.
4. We meet with our legislators routinely but have trouble getting meetings.
5. We meet with our legislators routinely and sometimes get our “asks.”
6. We are asked for our input, but after a closed planning/drafting process.
7. Legislators fear upsetting our community in decision-making.
8. We are always part of the planning process, and our input is used.
9. Elected officials try to woo our community for votes.
10. Our priorities become the governor’s/president’s “to do” list.
How Do We Know Where We Rate?
•	What are some important challenges that we have won?
•	How does this show power that we have?

•	What are some important challenges that we have lost?
•	How does this show a need for more power?

So What Is Power Really?
•	Power is…the ability to act to create change, while undergoing a change in the process.
•	The ability to act is the most basic understanding of power. It means we are alive and have free agency.
•	The creation of change is how we measure our level of power, as well as what gives it meaning and purpose.
•	Undergoing a change is how we know we are using our power collectively to build the movement and how we evaluate our work.

So Once Again…How Powerful Are We?
1. No one even knows who we are or have heard of our organizations.
2. We are considered a great charity.
3. We meet with our legislators annually and take photos.
4. We meet with our legislators routinely but have trouble getting meetings.
5. We meet with our legislators routinely and sometimes get our “asks.”
6. We are asked for our input, but after a closed planning/drafting process.
7. Legislators fear upsetting our community in decision-making.
8. We are always part of the planning process, and our input is used.
9. Elected officials try to woo our community for votes.
10. Our priorities become the governor’s/president’s “to do” list.

All This Talk About Power…
•	Power and empowerment are not the same thing.
•	That voting is part of personal empowerment is great.
•	In the end- voting is about POWER, not empowerment.
•	It requires action but only has meaning when it creates change.
•	In order to be effective, it requires shared power and collective action – which force us to undergo a change.

In Politics, There Are Two Types of Power:

Money power

People power

Which Levels Need a Voting Bloc to Achieve?
1. No one even knows who we are or have heard of our organizations.
2. We are considered a great charity.
3. We meet with our legislators annually and take photos.
4. We meet with our legislators routinely but have trouble getting meetings.
5. We meet with our legislators routinely and sometimes get our “asks.”
6. We are asked for our input, but after a closed planning/drafting process.
7. Legislators fear upsetting our community in decision-making.
8. We are always part of the planning process, and our input is used.
9. Elected officials try to woo our community for votes.
10. Our priorities become the governor’s/president’s “to do” list.

We Have To MAKE Them Honor Our Credo
Electoral Power - Strategy
What is  Electoral  Power – The New Math

Organized People 
+ Organized Money 
= Political Power

Delivering Votes 
Electoral Power - Strategy

Lessons from the Field

Massachusetts: Protecting Marriage Equality

Cincinnati:  Repealing Article  XII
Electoral Power - Strategy
Who do we  need  to  Get Out To  Vote?
The Community Circle

Electoral Power - Strategy
Let me introduce you to Senator Peacock…

Senator Julius Peacock  (Xanadu)
•	Came to CIL Candidate Forum 
•	Met with Disability Advocates
•	Voted against us on  expanding IHSS
•	Voted  for  an Access Notification Bill
•	Was  quoted saying “The ADA was intended to be limited, it doesn’t cover everything. You can’t have everything  in this life.”
•	Won  his  last election  by 4500 votes.
•	Xanadu has  1 Million Citizens  with 55% Voter Registration

Electoral Power - Strategy
Lets look at the Senate race from the state of  Xanadu!

Electoral Power - Strategy
•	Who are these NEW  voters with disabilities?
•	People who didn’t vote last time
•	People  who weren’t voting age yet last time
•	Peacock  voters from last  time-switching sides
•	How do we find these NEW voters with disabilities?
•	Call them
•	Visit  them (Home  or  CIL)
•	Events Festivals and Fairs
•	4501 / Time  Until Election (Nov 2015-Sept  2016)
•	409 per Month
•	94 per week
•	13-14 per day

Effective Messaging
•	We have a bit of an uphill battle.
•	Disenfranchisement = powerlessness that looks like apathy.
•	It is our job to engage our community: 
•	To believe that we can be powerful.
•	That voting is everyone’s role to play.

Effective Messaging
•	Messaging is how we talk to each other to engage our own community.
•	Voting is not particularly sexy.
•	Traditional messaging has not been effective.
•	Connect voting to power.
•	Power means REAL CHANGE in people’s lives.
•	Voting is about our everyday lives and circumstances. 

The Bottom Line For Messaging
•	Connect voting to issues that matter in our community.
•	How do we know what issues matter most to our people?
ASK THEM!

Message Strategy
•	14-7-3: Boiling down the message…
•	6-12 Months  Out: 14  word statements
•	3-4  Months Out: 7 words
•	1-2 Months Out: 3 words or Hashtag

•	Example:
•	14 Words: Proposition X is  an anti-disability law that unfairly segregates people with  disabilities by blocking their access to equal healthcare coverage.

•	7 Words: Prop X blocks people with disabilities  from getting  equal healthcare. 

•	3 Words: Vote “NO” on Prop  X –or- #VoteNOX
Social Media Messaging
•	#VoteDisability
•	Short, sweet and ready to tweet!
•	Key Word Messaging
•	Instructive

•	Pictures are Worth a 1000 Words
•	Memes

•	People + Action = Success
•	Lessons from  the Field
•	Facebook
•	Twitter

•	Storms: Many clouds create a storm!

Handbook Review: Who is responsible
Structured for your organization: 
See Yourself in the Campaign

•	Section 1: Introduction
•	Section 2: Background and 2016 Election Landscape
•	Section 3: The Director – The Decider
•	Section 4: The Program Manager - The Supervisor
•	Section 5: The Advocate or Organizer – The Leader
•	Addendum Materials
•	The Care and Feeding of Volunteers
•	Final Push GOTV Materials	
•	Social Media Tool Kit		

Handbook Review: Who is responsible
•	The Director – The Decider
•	Board Approval
•	Budget
•	Staff Assignment
•	GOTV Plan Approval
•	The Program Manager - The Supervisor
•	Lead Organizer Supervision
•	Timeline Tracking
•	Staff Time Allocation
•	The Advocate or Organizer – The Leader
•	Develops GOTV Plan
•	Implements GOTV Plan
•	Progress Reports
•	GOTV Campaign Director

Building  Your Team
Organizational Commitment

•	Management and senior staff must “buy-in” to the mission

•	Dedicate time and resources
•	Include vote work in the budgeting process
•	Carve out staff time for vote work
•	Empower talented volunteers to fill staff/budgeting gaps

Building  Your Team
Community Commitment
•	Establish partnerships with “common ground” organizations.
•	No one organization has the time/money resources for this work.
•	No one organization typically has sufficient expertise.
•	No one organization has a large enough contact list to build a voting bloc.
•	Partnerships add to our ranking on the 1-10 power scale.
Building  Your Team
Community Commitment

•	Creating a real/named coalition enhances resources by:
•	Solidifying organizational level commitment/buy in.
•	Assisting in name recognition and messaging.
•	Opening new opportunities for obtaining funding.
•	Develops a structure for group accountability.
Building  Your Team
A Quick Word On Accountability

•	Coalitions fail because they are not effective at holding each other accountable.

•	Set goals that are concrete/measurable and have a firm timeline. Identify a partner responsible for completion of each goal.

Building  Your Team
A Quick Word On Accountability

•	Create ground rules for effective communication.

•	Use the ground rules to have a real conversation, up front about how we will hold each other accountable.

•	Assign an “enforcer” to ensure that we don’t let each other off the hook.

Building  Your Team
The One-On-One Conversation
•	The Questions
•	Who?
•	What?
•	Why? Why? Why?

•	Probing Questions
•	Transparent and Truthful: Reciprocal
•	Personal but Professional

•	Round 2: The Catch Up 1 on 1
•	Holding accountable

Building Your Team
Pyramid Identification

They Choose: Self  Identification = Accountability
Building Your Team

Everyone  Counts

•	Take no one for granted-your next leader is  someone your not thinking about

•	Be numbers driven

•	Report outcomes  in numbers and words that imply evaluation of  size or growth

•	Counting: numbers tell the truth

Local Team Plan Development:
Developing Your GOTV Timeline
What does a typical GOTV timeline look like?

•	6-9 Months Before Election Day: Structure 
•	Developing Budget
•	Staff Assignments
•	Voter Match-List Enhancement Consultants Planning

•	6 Month Before Election Day: Building the Team
•	Coalition Building - MOU
•	Developing GOTV Plan
•	Voter Registration Drive

Local Team Plan Development:
Developing Your GOTV Timeline
What does Your GOTV timeline look like in your community?

•	4 to 5 Months Before Election Day: Growing the Team
•	In-Person Volunteer Recruitment (IPVR)
•	Begin Voter Match – List Enhancement Process

•	3 to 4 Months Before Election Day: Education
•	First Progress Report to Director/Board
•	GOTV Phone Banks Begin: Intro & Voter Education

Local Team Plan Development:
Developing Your GOTV Timeline
What does Your GOTV timeline look like in your community?
•	2 to 3 Months Before Election Day: Campaign Begins
•	Direct Mail Prep 
•	Voter Registration Final Push
•	Develop Phone Bank Logistics Plan
•	Final Month: Final Push
•	Full Swing GOTV: Volunteer Confirmation, Voter Contact Phone Banks, Direct Mail, Robocalls
•	Election Day: Last Chance
•	All Day Phone Banks
•	Poll Check: Knock n’ Drag
•	1 to 4 Months After Election Day
•	Review and Evaluate: Learn and Plan

Local Team Plan Development:
Developing Your GOTV Timeline
•	3 Resources
•	Money: Fundraise
•	People: Volunteers  and Voters
•	Time: Start Early!!!

•	Unleash the Dragon!!!
•	Training
•	Process Driven
•	More Training
•	Then Do it!

•	The  Golden Rule:  the decisions you  make early on will most determine you success in  the end.
Developing  Your Campaign Plan	

•	Handout Worksheets

•	Breakouts: Geographic  and Colleague Groups

•	Work Backwards
Let’s Build Electoral Power!	
Sharing Your Local GOTV Plans

The Protection & Advocacy Network

•	Established by Congress to protect the rights of people with disabilities through legal support, advocacy, referral, and education. 
•	In all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico, US Territories, and the Native American Consortium (Hopi, Navaho and Piute Nations in the Four Corner region of the Southwest). 
•	Largest provider of legal advocacy services to people with disabilities in the US.

PAVA

•	Protection & Advocacy for Voter Access
•	Federal mandate to the P&As
•	A unique, responsive project of every P&A
•	Established under HAVA to “ensure the full participation in the electoral process for individuals with disabilities, including registering to vote, casting a vote, and accessing polling places.” 

NDRN

•	National Disability Rights Network
•	The nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems for individuals with disabilities
•	Michelle Bishop, specialist/subject matter expert for the PAVA program

California Foundation  for
Independent  Living  Centers

We organize  accessible communities where people with  disabilities live, work learn shop play and vote!

•	On Line Voter Registration - #1 Nationwide
•	Increased Voter Education Materials Alternate Formats
•	DOJ Polling  Place Access Campaign
•	And Now: Building Electoral Power!
The Ask: 
will you join a national election collaborative? 
•	Take a quick quiz on today’s workshop and let us know if you will make the commitment.

•	Question and Answers