An Iowa organization wants every disabled voter in the state to feel confident about voting this fall. On Friday, ID Action will hold a Voter Training session for Quad Cities residents with disabilities.
Sarah Ritter reports.
Summary
ID Action Spokesman, Rik Shannon, says only half of the disabled voters in the United States turned out to vote in 2012. And the 315,000 voters in Iowa, with physical or intellectual disabilities, are especially under-represented.
Shannon says while accessibility at polling locations has improved since the Help Americans Vote Act was passed in 2002, many disabled voters still don't have the information they need.
And like the rest of the country, he says many disabled Iowans don't turn out to vote because they feel apathetic or cynical about the process. But he hopes holding Voter Training sessions will help disabled voters feel like they have more control over their lives and their vote.
At the sessions, ID Action will teach disabled residents about early voting, absentee ballots, satellite locations, and other alternative ways to vote this fall.
There will be four Voter Training sessions in the Quad Cities, with the first on Friday, at the Milestones Area Agency on Aging in Davenport, at 10 am.