MD TAP reminds all to VOTE
MD TAP would like to remind its readers to start making arrangements
to vote in this election. Many of you may need to register to vote (deadline
is October 13th!), mail in your absentee votes or locate an accessible
voting site. The information listed below should help you begin this
process. Please don't hesitate to call Nan Brittingham in the Governor's
Office for Individuals with Disabilities for further information and/or
assistance. Her phone number is 410-333-3098.
Register, then Vote
A Guide for Maryland Voters with Disabilities
* VOTE ON NOVEMBER 7th *
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Greetings,
We have begun a campaign to encourage all Marylanders to exercise
their right to vote. This starts with voter registration. Did
you know it is estimated that over 26,000 individuals who have
a disability are not registered to vote here in Maryland? Lt.
Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and I want to see this number
decrease dramatically in 2000. Your help is needed if we are
to succeed.
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Maryland is such a great State in which to live, work, play and
raise a family. We can make it even better by assuring everyone has
a voice in our future. People are our most important resource and
our diversity is our strength. We need every voice. Please, exercise
your responsibility and your right to be heard. Take a stand... be
counted. Make a difference for Maryland. Register, then vote!
Parris N. Glendening
Governor
MAKE YOUR VOICE COUNT
REGISTER, THEN VOTE
You may register to vote if: you are a U.S. citizen who resides in
Maryland; will be 18 years old by November 7, 2000; are not disqualified
by a criminal record; are not under guardianship for mental disability.
You may complete a voter registration application in person at the
election office in your county or Baltimore City. A completed application
may also be mailed to the election board.
After you are registered you will receive by mail a Voter Notification
Card which will list where you will go to vote.
You will vote on a voting machine or on one of the other voting devices
approved for use in the State.
You may ask election officials to show you how, but you alone must
cast your vote. You may vote between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on November
7, 2000.
Maryland's deadline for voter registration is: October 13, 2000.
VOTER ACCESSIBILITY
Most voting places are accessible with:
- curb cuts where needed;
- accessible parking;
- signage indicating accessible entrance;
- accessible route in building;
- seating for voters waiting to vote;
- sufficient space for voters' wheelchairs;
- two accessible voting booths; one with a chair at a table, and
one privacy booth for verbal voting;
- notepads available to communicate in writing;
- magnifier glass for election materials and ballot; and
- paper ballot overlay system for the visually impaired (in designated
counties.)
Before Election Day
If you are assigned to a place to vote that is not accessible, call
or write your local Board of Elections to request an accessible assignment.
You must make the request for reassignment no later than October 13,
2000.
On Election Day
You
may choose to bring a person to provide assistance with voting; the
person cannot be your employer or an officer or agent of your employer.
Chief Judges of Elections are available at each polling place to provide
assistance.
There
are over 35 million voting-age persons with disabilities.
14
million voting age people with disabilities are not registered
to vote.
In
the 1996 Presidential election, 11.6 million Americans with disabilities
did vote; 23.5 million Americans with disabilities of voting age did
not vote.
If
Americans with disabilities were to vote at the same rate as people
without disabilities, at least 5 million additional votes would
be cast on November 7th.
Those
votes would be enough to get candidates elected who could serve to improve
the lives of people with disabilities, or get legislation passed that
would assist people with disabilities.
Did You Know?
1776 - One vote made English instead of German the national
language of the United States
1845 - One vote brought Texas into the Union
1941 - One vote saved the Selective Service system B
just weeks before Pearl Harbor was attacked
2000 - Your one vote will make a difference
For more information, contact:
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Maryland State Board of Elections
151 West Street, Suite 200
Annapolis, MD 21401
1-800-222-8683
www.elections.state.md.us
Office of the Secretary of State
State House
Annapolis, MD 21401
1-888-874-0013
www.sos.state.md.us
National Organization on Disability
910 Sixteenth Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
202-293-5960
www.nod.org
The League of Women Voters
1730 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-429-1965
www.lwv.org
Governor's Office for Individuals
with Disabilities
300 W. Lexington Street, Box 10
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-333-3098 v/tty or 1-800-637-4113 v/tty
oid@gov.state.md.us
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