Power of the Disability Vote
The disability community comprises 20 percent of society, making this the largest minority constituency in the country. However, the disability community is the least mobilized voting bloc. In Missouri for instance, there are close to 900,000 people with disabilities of voting age yet only around 250,000 cast a ballot in the 2000 presidential election. Consequently, people with disabilities are disproportionately poor, with over 65 percent living below the federal poverty level. Research and studies have shown that while people with disabilities comprise the largest American minority, the community votes at a rate that is at least 25 percent below that of the general population, and at least 35 percent below that of any other recognized minority constituency. This lack of demonstrable power and disorganization explains, at least in part, why people with disabilities are arguably the most institutionally and generationally impoverished community in our modern-day society. Without voting power, people with disabilities are not as capable of influencing the decisions made by elected policymakers. These policymakers hold the keys to unlocking many important issues to uplifting and equalizing the disability community. Some of these issues include employment opportunities, quality health care policies, programs to keep people with disabilities living independently in their communities, and other initiatives that could greatly impact a disabled person's quality of life and ability to live independently. The Missouri Disability Vote Project seeks to empower people with disabilities to change this landscape by establishing a basis of power (i.e. a voting bloc) through which policy decisions can be impacted. Once people with disabilities are seen as having voting power and consistency, policymakers will better prioritize the employment and economic policy initiatives that are essential to ending the cycles of institutional dependency and poverty so well-known to this community.
