Advocates Highlight Voting Rights for People With Disabilities

With an estimated 25 percent of the population classified as having a disability, advocates are bringing attention to the roadblocks people with disabilities often face when it comes to being able to vote and make their voices heard.

During a forum last week at the Westchester County Center in White Plains, Westchester Disabled on the Move, Inc. (WDOM) and the League of Women Voters of Westchester joined forces to encourage people with disabilities to learn their voting rights and register to vote.

“It is important for people with disabilities to have all the information they need about registering to vote and the voting process in 2024,” said Maria Samuels, executive director of Westchester Disabled on the Move. “We want them to feel empowered to vote, so that they can support political candidates who will best represent their interests.”

In Westchester, Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins said there are 25 voting locations that are completely accessible to voters.

“We are doing everything we can to remove all roadblocks,” Jenkins said.

Susan Schwarz, a director of the Executive Committee of the League of Women Voters of Westchester County, added, “The League of Women Voters actively supports the rights of all to participate in public life through education, activism and litigation and is especially pleased to support WDOM’s outreach during this election season.”

Established in 1984, WDOM is a nonprofit, community-based organization that is part of a national network of Independent Living Centers dedicated to independence and equal rights for individuals with disabilities.

The keynote speaker at the Oct. 16 forum that was dubbed REV UP! (Register, Educate, Vote, Use Your Power) was Jenna Bainbridge, a Broadway actress, wheelchair user and disability rights advocate.

When Bainbridge was 18 months old, she sustained a spinal cord injury causing her to by partially paralyzed from the waist down.

“We as people with disabilities have long been underrepresented in the media, but just because we don’t see ourselves, doesn’t mean our voices matter any less,” she said. “So, we need to use those voices to be heard by voting this November.”

In addition to being a performer, Bainbridge is co-founder of ConsultAbility, a consulting firm whose mission is to work with theatrical institutions and educational programs to create more accessible spaces and inclusive programming for disabled artists.

“When you don’t have a disability, you don’t know what to look for,” Bainbridge said. “Society at large doesn’t think of disabilities. Access barriers are everywhere. It is society that is disabling us. We don’t have a lot of representation for what is possible.”

“We deserve access. The world views access (as) all or nothing. There is middle ground,” she added. “Any access is better than no access.”

Bainbridge, who is currently starring in the new Broadway musical “Suffs,” offered a sobering thought for those who attended last week’s forum.

“Everybody will acquire a disability at some point in their life if they don’t die first,” she said. “Glasses are an assist device. People who wear them don’t view them as having a disability. We can do that for every single disability. I very much trust the universe will provide.”

Rick Pezzullo

Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/