PROJECT   

Is Voting Important To You? g pIf SO Why?

WE ARE A PARTNERSHIPWE ARE A PARTNERSHIP• The National Technical Assistance Center (NTAC for short)

• Self‐Advocates Becoming E dEmpowered

• The Arc of The United States

• Portland State UniversityUniversity

MORE PARTNERSMORE PARTNERS 

• The RRTC on Aging with DevelopmentalThe RRTC on Aging with Developmental

Disabilities at the University of Illinois

• Moore Advocacy Consulting

• Georgia Advocacy Office

• University of Missouri at Kansas City

I tit t f H D l t(UCEDD)(UCEDD)

Institute for Human Development

THE PROJECT VOTE! TOOL KITTHE PROJECT VOTE! TOOL KITWe started working together to 

educate people about voting ineducate people about voting in 2000;

• We noticed that people withWe noticed that people with disabilities were not exercising their right to vote and we wanted everyone to vote,

J h K d d i• Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation gave us a grant to develop the Project Vote! trainingProject Vote! training.

EXAMPLE OF A PROJECT VOTE! DISCUSSION

What is your biggest Voting  Question?

How do I support someone to register  ith t i fl i th ?without influencing them?

What do I need to do if I have moved?What do I need to do if I have moved?

How do I find out if I am registered?How do I find out if I am registered?

How do I know I am voting for the rightHow do I know I am voting for the right person?

NATIONAL FOCUS ON VOTINGNATIONAL FOCUS ON VOTING

In 2002 The 00 eAdministration on Developmental Disabilities ( )(ADD) gave us a grant; through Help America Vote Act (HAVA)Act (HAVA) • To teach state self advocacy groups aboutadvocacy groups about voting so they have the power to lead the training.

ATTENTION! PARTNERSHIP NEEDEDATTENTION! PARTNERSHIP NEEDED

We realized that self advocacy groups need partnersadvocacy groups need partners in the community to help educate people about their ti i htvoting rights; 

• We received funding toWe received funding to continue providing training and technical assistance to protection and advocacyprotection and advocacy (P&As) organizations across the country. 

PURPOSE OF THE PROJECTVOTE TRAINING TOOL KIT

• Learn about voting issuesg

• Give people tools so they become the trainers in their communitythe trainers in their community

• Build connections to increase voting participation with:voting participation with:

• local/state agencies,• self‐advocates,self advocates,• family members, • elected officials, ,• and legislatures.

WEB‐BASED LEARNINGWEB BASED LEARNING

Developed and field tested by p yP&As and self advocacy groups for the govoter.org website;

l h b• A template has been developed for web based Project Vote training.Project Vote training.• This template is available for any state P&A to create state specific web‐based voter education trainingtraining.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCETwo P&As received web‐based 

training:g

• Made the information state specific to their voting p grequirements,  

• Strengthened their relationship with people with disabilities,

• They learned the Project Vote! training toolkit, 

• They built an outreach plan to increase voting.

INCREASE USE of www.govoter.orgINCREASE USE of www.govoter.orgThree people were recruited to evaluate the on‐line informationevaluate the on‐line information system for P&As and people with cognitive disabilities; • Accessible information about• Accessible information about 

voting rights,• How guardianship effects voting,• ID laws, • Voting machines / DRE (Direct‐

Reporting‐Electronic)Reporting Electronic)• Voter registration,• Direct links to state specific voter 

informationinformation.  

GETTING THE WORD OUTGETTING THE WORD OUT NTAC information and products;products; • To P&As, • Self‐advocacy organizationsSelf advocacy organizations,• Other audiences • Through NTAC partnerThrough NTAC partner listservs, 

• NTAC's www.govoter.orgwebsite, 

• National and regional disability conferencesdisability conferences, 

• SABE’s newsletter.  

OUR IMPACT ON VOTINGOUR IMPACT ON VOTINGCareful evaluation of NTAC:• Promoting HAVA (Help• Promoting HAVA (Help America Vote Act), 

• Measuring:Measuring:• How many self advocates trained, 

• How many P&As trained,• Increase of  participation 

f b hof voting by citizens with disabilities,

• Share information about• Share information about voting and cognitive access.