Latest / Living Loud and Proud: Disability Conversations / Plan Your Vote: Disability Rights at the Polls (ft. Laura Power & Deb Landau)

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Plan Your Vote: Disability Rights at the Polls (ft. Laura Power & Deb Landau) · Living Loud and Proud: Disability Conversations

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  Welcome to the Living Loud and Proud Podcast, brought to you by Disability Pride Pennsylvania.
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  If you need a link to the transcript for this episode, please visit our accessible website at www.disabilitypridepa.org slash podcast.
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  And now, here is your host.
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  Hey folks, Phil Rosen here with some important information for election resources and hotlines.
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  At the time of upload, you must have already registered to vote for this general election
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  that is happening on November 3rd.
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  You can still request a no-excuse mail ballot or absentee ballot by 5 p.m. on the 27th of
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  October at pavoterservices.pa.gov or by filling out a paper application and returning
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  it to your local county elections office by 5 p.m. on the 27th of October.
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  Again, that URL is pavoterservices.pa.gov.
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  Your mail ballot or absentee ballot must be received by your county election commissioner's office
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  by 8 p.m. on November 3rd to count in the upcoming election.
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  In Philadelphia County, you can go into any satellite elections office to register for a no-excuse mail ballot and vote over the counter in office if you wish.
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  If you would like more information about your ballot in your area, and vote over the counter in office if you wish.
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  If you would like more information about your ballot in your area, you can find nonpartisan information on the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters website at palwv.org.
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  Again, that's palwv.org.
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  On their site, they have voter tools that you can navigate to, such as Vote411, PA Voter
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  Information, Ballot Box Basics, and Frequently Asked Questions.
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  At Vote411, you can search based on your address to see what's on your local ballot throughout
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  the state and actually throughout the country as well.
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  If you would like to get involved with RevUp Pennsylvania, you can register for their virtual meetings online at
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  aapd.com slash revup-join and scroll down to RevUp Pennsylvania. Again, that site is aapd.com
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  slash revup-join. If you are in Philly, there also is a RevUp Philly Coalition website at disabilitypridepa.org slash revupphilly.
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  Again, that's disabilitypridepa.org slash revupphilly.
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  If you vote in person and have any difficulties at a polling location, you can report the issue on the Commonwealth RevUpPhilly. That's 1-877-VOTES-PA. Numerically, that's 1-877-868-3772.
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  Again, 1-877-868-3772.
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  In Philadelphia, you can also call the Philadelphia City Commissioner's Hotline at 215-686-VOTE.
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  Again, that's 215-686-VOTE.
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  Numerically, that's 215-686-8683. Again, 215-686-8683.
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  Again, 215-686-8683.
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  The election protection hotline is 866-OUR-VOTE.
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  Again, 866-OUR- Again 866 our vote numerically that's 866 687 8683 again 866 687 8683.
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  In Allegheny County, the number for the Allegheny Elections Division is 412-350-4500.
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  Again, that's 412-350-4500.
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  For all other counties in the state, you can find the local election commissioner's office
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  number on the local commissioner's office website or at pa.gov slash vote slash contact-us. Again,
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  That site is pa.gov slash vote slash contact-us.
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  Now, let's get on to the show.
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  Hey folks, host and producer Phil Rosen here.
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  Thanks for tuning in to the Living Loud and Proud podcast for our latest episode.
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  With the general election looming in less than two weeks at the time of
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  upload, I thought it would be a good time to talk with a couple of advocates for voting rights access
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  here in Pennsylvania. My first guest is Ms. Wheelchair PA 2027, Laura Power. Laura's platform
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  is Voting Rights Access, inspired by her experiences advocating
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  through the RevUp Pennsylvania Coalition. My second guest is Program Director for Advocacy
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  and Policy at the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, Deb Landau. Between both interviews,
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  we touch on many topics related to voting at this stage
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  in the midterm elections process. Without further ado, let's listen into my discussion with
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  Laura Power. Hey folks, Phil here, and I'm with my first guest, Miss Wheelchair Pennsylvania
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  2027 Laura Power. Laura's platform is voting rights. How's it going, Laura?
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  It's going very well. Thank you for having me on.
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  Yes, of course. Thanks for coming on. We really appreciate it.
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  So for those of, you know, those listeners out there who might not know, what is Miss Wheelchair Pennsylvania?
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  And is there a broader organization that overarches the state?
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  Miss Wheelchair Pennsylvania itself is a statewide organization
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  that's an advocacy training program for women
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  based on advocacy networking, education, and community
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  service.
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  The actual competition, which is the big event every year, is not a typical beauty pageant, but it's
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  based on advocacy skills.
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  Awesome. Awesome. So I guess that motivated you to participate in the pageant, because for those who might not know, you've been involved with Rev Up and whatnot with regards to defending voting rights. Correct?
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  It absolutely did. One of the things that I like about this organization is it is very focused on community visibility.
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  So for those of you who are familiar with RevUp, it's APD's voting campaign.
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  It stands for Register, Educate, Vote, Use Your Power.
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  And there are rev up coalitions in 22 states.
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  And I have coordinated the vendor one, or the Pennsylvania one.
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  And what we do is we make sure Pennsylvanians with disabilities
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  are registered, informed, and free of barriers to exercise their right to go.
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  Yeah, awesome, awesome.
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  And the Miss Wheelchair organization
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  gave me the opportunity to expand that platform
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  and give it more to me in visibility.
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  Oh, that's awesome.
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  Love to hear that.
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  So let's talk about your platform voting rights. Why is it important for us to robustly defend the right to vote? And why is it important for the right to exist in a robust way? It's important for us to defend the right vote for three reasons. One, if you're a member
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  of the disability community, the people we elect are responsible for deciding how the money is spent
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  on the services
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  that allow us to exist in our community
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  and live our lives to the fullest extent.
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  So they determine whether your money is going toward
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  Home care services if you are like myself and rely on that or different types of
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  medical assistance or non-profits that serve people with disabilities.
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  they have the power to determine all of that.
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  So if you want your services to work for you,
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  electing the people who care about how those services function is important.
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  and also from a candidate perspective,
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  people with disabilities and their caregivers, if you combine that, one in three Americans
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  either has a disability or lives with someone who has.
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  So the disability community can make a pretty powerful statement because that's 72 million votes potentially.
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  And the other thing is, since anyone can become disabled at any point, this will not just help you, but maybe somebody who's older living on your street or somebody else who may need help in the future.
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  So that's why it's important that we care.
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  yeah of course of course, of course.
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  And that number right there, 72 million, that's like what, roughly 20% of the population, right?
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  About that.
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  Yeah, okay.
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  I'm glad my math is correct on that one.
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  So this past couple of years, but especially this last year, we've seen a real kind
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  of uptick in rhetoric and attacks against elections or voting rights. And particularly
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  Louisiana v. Calais, we saw Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act kind of get more or less gutted by the Supreme Court.
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  And this is, of course, is allowing for an attack, particularly down in the South, I think, against black and brown people's right to vote.
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  Should we be similarly concerned, you know, in a reasonable manner that that might happen to the disability vote?
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  I believe that regardless of attacks or anything of that nature with the current political landscape, we should always be wary of and advocating for our right to vote
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  because it does affect every issue.
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  The people, the people you elect have the power to affect every single other issue that
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  is an aspect of society. So I believe that any time, regardless of the current climate,
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  anytime is a good time for civic engagement.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  And also because there is a lot of intersectionality in the disability community.
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  So, so, things that... there's a tonality in the disability community.
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  So things that do affect people in one group may also affect people in the other group because no one only fits one category.
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  The disability community stands in multiple demographics. So I think that voter advocacy should continue regardless. Right, right. And we are fast approaching
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  November 3rd, which is election day this year.
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  At the time this episode is uploaded, the final day to register to vote in Pennsylvania will have passed.
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  What are the final steps that one can do to ensure they can vote this year?
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  And what are some of the different methods that they might be able to use to vote?
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  Well, you can... There are... And what are some of the different methods that they might be able to use to vote?
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  Well, you can, there are three ways that you can vote.
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  You can vote in person.
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  So going to the polling place and everything you need to know about any of these methods can be found at the PGA State Department website
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  on their voting and elections page.
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  But if you vote in person,
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  the polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on November 3rd.
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  And every polling place is required to have at least one accessible voting machine by law.
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  So if you need accommodations or assistance to vote, you can use one of those.
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  They offer contrast voiceovers and even like sit-to-touch options if you cannot use buttons and alternative button pads.
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  So that's a viable option for if you vote in person.
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  If you vote in person, you can also have someone fill out what's called the Declaration of Needed Assistance
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  form and that will allow someone to help you vote or fill out your ballot.
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  and they're spurning by mail, which if you are requesting a mail-in ballot, the last
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  thing to do that is October 27th.
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  So mark your calendars because that's hugely important if you want them.
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  Also, if you're filling out your valid valid, there's three steps.
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  Step one, fill it out.
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  Step two, put the valid in the secrecy envelope.
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  It's the yellow envelope that you get.
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  If you do not put your valid in the secrecy envelope, it will not count.
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  So please use the secrecy envelope.
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  If you want to make your valid valid, please please use secrecy envelope.
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  And then you should date the outer envelope because there have been issues with dates in the past for some
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  counties in today.
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  Put the ballot in the outer envelope before you send it out.
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  If you have trouble returning or picking your mail-in dot up,
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  there is a designated agent form, which basically means
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  there's a person you can assign through this form to drop up and pick up for you.
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  and then early voting at your county elections office
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  is a viable option too, where you can go to your county elections office
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  and they give you a mail-in ballot and you can do start to finish for the whole process.
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  And one last thing I would suggest before you go vote,
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  you want to make sure you're voting informed.
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  A lot of nonprofit organizations have informational websites
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  about how you can find the candidates on your vote.
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  Your information about what they stand for to make sure you're voting for people who align with your voters.
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  um
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  Validpedia
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  and Validready
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  and the League of Women Voters will tell you exactly what is on your ballot if you type in your address.
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  The League of Women Voters will also cover, like, ballot questions.
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  So sometimes ballots have, like, questions on additional issues that aren't really relevant to candidates.
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  But they're important things that are county-specific.
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  So if you log on to that website, it will tell you and it'll have plain language explanations
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  of that too.
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  So voting informed is hugely important.
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  Yes, yes, of course. You know, I... So voting informed is hugely important.
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  Yes, yes, of course.
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  You know, I totally agreed.
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  I think you might find that some of the things that are going on come because people might not be as informed as they probably ought to be to vote across the country.
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  So, Laura, we're kind of coming to the end of this interview. Where can people find you? And do you have any upcoming events you want to plug?
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  Yes, I would like to plug, I'm going to take a minute and plug Disability Pride actually.
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  They're doing a coffee chat in Pittsburgh on November 18th,
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  and I will definitely be there.
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  And also, not really relevant to Ms. Wilshire PA,
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  but if you want to find out more about RevUp, we meet on Microsoft Teams every second Tuesday.
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  So you can look that up and find out more information about that.
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  Oh, that's great. Awesome.
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  I love to hear that our presence in Pittsburgh is growing for sure.
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  That's always good to hear.
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  So, Laura,
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  it's been great having you on.
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  I really appreciate it.
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  And, you know,
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  definitely keep in touch.
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  Let's, you know,
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  let's know about, like,
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  all these other events that are going to be happening
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  over the next year while you're
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  the reigning Miss Wheelchair.
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  Absolutely.
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  And I definitely intend to come to a couple of disability pride
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  celebrations once that starts off.
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  I'm excited.
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  Yes. Oh, that's awesome.
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  We'll talk to you later, okay?
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  Thanks for coming on again, Laura. I really appreciate you taking the time.
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  Now my discussion with Deb Landau discusses additional resources people can use to find
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  more information about candidates and races on their ballot. The one I find most intriguing is
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  the vote411.org site where you can search for your
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  ballot by entering your address in the search bar. Now let's sink our teeth into the discussion I had
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  with Deb. Hey folks, Phil here with my second guest today, Deb Landau from the Pennsylvania
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  League of Women Voters. She's the Program Director for Advocacy and Policy.
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  How's it going, Deb? I'm doing well. How are you, Phil? Thanks for having me.
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  Yeah, I'm doing pretty good today. So for those who may not know, what does the Pennsylvania
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  League of Women Voters do? And, you know, I know some organizations have like different
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  chapters for like different states and stuff like that. Is the League of Women Voters also like a national organization or?
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  Yes. So thank you.
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  Yes. So the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania is the Pennsylvania chapter of the League of Women Voters, which is a national organization.
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  So we are what's called a tri-federated organization, which means we have a national organization that
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  oversees all of our work. And then we have state leagues in all 50 states. And then beneath that,
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  we have our local leagues, which are our grassroots volunteer members, and they really are the heart
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  and soul of our work. In Pennsylvania, we have members in 66 of 67 counties. And we also have 30 local leagues across the Commonwealth who are working with communities.
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  We primarily work, we are nonpartisan and we're grassroots. As I mentioned, we are volunteer led organization.
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  We conduct voter registration drives, nonpartisan voter education, which is incredibly important, especially right now with lots of myths and disinformation and just lots of information everywhere.
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  It's really important that we really value our reputation as a reliable source of nonpartisan voter information and voter
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  education.
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  We host candidate forums and debates.
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  And overall, our goal is really just to make sure that Pennsylvanians can make informed
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  decisions when they vote.
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  So that's just a little bit about our work here in Pennsylvania.
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  And it's a really cool opportunity to be working alongside so many democracy defenders across the country.
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  So it's really rewarding to work here.
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  Oh, that sounds so great.
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  I mean, yeah, the rhetoric this year, well, over the last decade really has been particularly striking to see.
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  So as you know, of course.
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  So what's a short history of the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters?
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  Yeah, so I will try to be brief the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters?
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  Yeah, so I will try to be brief because the League of Women Voters actually has a very rich history.
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  The organization is over 100 years old.
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  So it was founded out of the women's suffrage movement.
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  Our official data is actually right after the 19th Amendment was signed in 1920. And so originally the organization was founded to educate
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  newly enfranchised women about voting and their roles as full citizens in society. And it was
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  established. We are very strictly nonpartisan. It's a really important bedrock of our work to make
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  sure that people, we don't tell people who to vote for. We just want them to get out and vote.
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  But throughout the 20th century, we don't tell people who to vote for. We just want them to get out and vote.
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  But throughout the 20th century, we've expanded beyond voter education to support voting rights initiatives.
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  We were part of the civil rights movement and lots of other movements to expand voting rights and reduce barriers.
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  And so today, we are all across the country. We have thousands and thousands of members. and we do remain one of the most respected nonpartisan civic groups with over a century of this work.
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  And it is, like I said, it's a really, really cool organization to be a part of.
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  And just knowing that history, being a part of, you know, being born out of the women's suffrage movement and seeing all of this progress and being a part of a lot of the progress and difficulties since, you know, in the last 100 years. And, you know, the fight still continues to this
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  day. So we are still going just as strong as ever. So that's just a brief history. We do have more
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  about the history on our website if folks are interested in learning more. Yeah, of course. And I'll
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  definitely share that website in a little quick clip before everything else in the episode.
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  So this last year, we've seen an unprecedented level of disenfranchisement of black and brown people
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  due to the Louisiana v. Calais decision about Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
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  Young people are also facing some systemic barriers to casting ballots across the country.
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  Are there potential concerns that, you know, other marginalized groups or groups with less access, like people with disabilities may lose access to the ballot box?
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  Like, are they reasonable concerns given the environment that we're seeing?
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  Yeah, I think being reasonably concerned and staying
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  ready is always important. I think that especially for those communities, you know, I'm not, you know, I'm not here to
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  tell people how to feel, but I do think these concerns are reasonable and our right to vote
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  has always kind of been a little bit at risk. And right now, even more so than ever,
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  especially combined with the attacks on DEI and some targeted attacks on marginalized communities.
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  But during this time, I think it's also really important to understand the value of our right to vote, that it is a right, it's not a privilege,
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  and that this is something that is really the foundation of this
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  country, is the right to vote one person, one vote, and that we need to be able to exercise that vote.
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  I do think that some of the concerns, especially about accessibility, I think when, you know, this is something I also tell myself when I get a little bit nervous, is that it's important to remember that elections are run by the states.
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  And so while, yes, there have been federal protections rolled back,
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  we have seen some states take it upon themselves to fill in the gaps with legislation.
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  Over the summer, for example, our neighbors in Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland
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  all passed their own Voting Rights Act at the state level
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  to make sure that those protections are codified at the state level.
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  That's something that the League of Women Voters is in support of here in Pennsylvania.
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  As of right now, nothing has really changed in Pennsylvania.
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  We are lucky that our districts are not subjected to that Section 2 right now.
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  But that is to say that this is something that could impact us in the future.
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  And it really is important that we codify these protections at the state level.
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  For example, when the federal government does fail to protect us, that's when the state can step in and should.
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  And we do have a lot of protections at the state level here in Pennsylvania that we don't have at the federal level. And that's something that we're going to be looking on trying to make stronger
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  policies for in Pennsylvania next year, especially. Yeah. And I guess kind of looking forward back,
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  what was it, around 2020, when all the voting machines were changed over in the state?
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  Mm-hmm. I think Governor Wolf was definitely like kind of looking forward with the requiring paper ballots, right? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So what can we do to ensure that the right to vote
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  is robustly protected in the future? Yeah, that's a great question. As I said before, I think the most
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  important thing is to exercise your right to vote. Get your friends, get your family, everyone you know, make sure that they
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  understand their rights and that they're exercising their rights. The second thing I would say is staying engaged
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  and informed, especially at the local level. There are a lot of policy changes that can happen at the local level that are
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  positive, that we do have a lot of control locally over our elections. And so I think paying attention
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  to what's happening in the state, I know that with all the things going on federally and in Congress,
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  it can feel like nothing's changing or things are rolling back, but there are actually a lot of
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  opportunities to engage at the state legislature. Unfortunately, our state legislature here in
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  Pennsylvania is known to be one of the most
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  ineffective legislatures in the country passing very few bills as I'm sure you know and so I think
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  you know this is where it's really important to work with to go show up to your board of elections
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  meetings to be able to advocate for pro-voter policies at the local level can actually do a lot
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  of good the other thing I wanted to mention is that voting,
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  I've been telling people running for office
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  is a job interview.
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  And when you vote for someone,
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  you're kind of voting for them to have a job.
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  And after that, that's when our performance review comes in.
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  And so it doesn't just stop with the election
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  to make sure that you're holding
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  your election officials accountable.
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  After the election is really important
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  to stay engaged, to pay attention.
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  And those are the ways that we can really gain more access to the ballot by using our voices, using whatever platforms we have,
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  whether that's showing up at a hearing in the state legislature or showing up to your board of election meeting.
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  Those are all things you can do to make sure that you're standing up for our democracy.
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  And again, just exercising that right to vote is so critical to making sure that we keep it.
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  Yeah, of course. You know, something that I ask a lot of the time when I'm talking about voting
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  rights on the podcast here is, you know, I know that every election is important, right? Like
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  local, state, federal, all that kind
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  of stuff. But I think some people pay a lot more attention to, especially like the federal elections
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  and then maybe the state elections, not so much on the local elections. What's the importance of
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  like kind of paying attention to the local elections as opposed to like the bigger elections?
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  Yeah, that's a really great question. A lot of times,
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  actually, some of the issues that people really care about are, it is more, you know, there's more
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  impact at the local level. Who's deciding how much taxes you're paying? Who's deciding on what roads
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  are getting fixed? Or if there's a new stop sign, school board elections. Those are all things that
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  really impact your day-to-day life, maybe even more so than things that happen in Congress. And also, because
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  those elections are smaller margins, I know someone I know just in the spring of the primary lost an election
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  by 100 votes. And so your vote can even make a bigger difference at the local level, but also your
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  voice can be heard more. And you have more direct access as well to those elected officials. And so that vote can even make a bigger difference at the local level, but also your voice can be heard more.
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  And you have more direct access as well to those elected officials.
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  And so that can really make a change.
• 35:51
  But a lot of the things that impact your day to day life are actually decided more by who's running your county and who maybe even in the state legislature might be working for you.
• 36:02
  Right. OK, yeah, that's really good to hear. So how has accessibility of voting sites increased recently? And what can one do to ensure they will have easy access to voting if they need extra help or they need, maybe they need someone to help them to vote or they need an accessible voting machine?
• 36:26
  What can they do to advocate for that?
• 36:28
  So there has been some increase in accessibility, but I will say there is a very, very long way to go.
• 36:34
  I would say I think the thing that's made the biggest difference that I've seen is no-excuse mail-in ballot voting.
• 36:42
  It has really increased the ability of people to vote, whether it's because they
• 36:48
  have mobility issues or whether it's because they work two jobs and just can't take off work on election day.
• 36:54
  In terms of accessibility, it's really even the playing field in a lot of ways. And that's something that's really important to keep.
• 37:01
  something to remember for folks at the polls is that you have rights.
• 37:07
  You have the right to have, if you have a disability, you can have a designated agent of your choosing come and help you with the polls.
• 37:14
  There are poll workers at polling stations that we are actually actively recruiting to that are trained in how to help different communities of voters. The judge of
• 37:26
  election is the person when you're at the polls. If you have a problem, if you have a question,
• 37:31
  you want to ask for the judge of elections. There also are poll workers around that are nonpartisan
• 37:37
  that are there to help you vote. That's really what their goal is. They're there just to make
• 37:42
  sure that you can vote. And so you can also,
• 37:45
  if you are someone that wants to be helpful, that's another way you can get involved is to
• 37:49
  volunteer as a poll worker. It's really, I've done it before. It's a really rewarding experience.
• 37:54
  It's actually really fun. It's a long day, but it's really fun. And you really do get to like
• 37:59
  meet a lot of people in your community and get to know all of the different ways that people can
• 38:03
  help voters. But just to summarize, if you need help at the polls, ask for a poll worker, ask for your
• 38:09
  judge of elections.
• 38:10
  And if you have any issues getting the assistance that you need, you're going to call 866-OUR-VOTE,
• 38:17
  which is our election protection hotline.
• 38:19
  You can also text that number as well.
• 38:21
  And we have folks around the state that are ready to help people be able to sort out these issues that they might have at the polls. I'll probably plug that number as well. And we have folks around the state that are ready to help people
• 38:25
  be able to sort out these issues that they might have at the polls. I'll probably plug that number a
• 38:30
  few times. It's a really important tool that we have. And those people are trained on Pennsylvania
• 38:35
  elections specifically for our community. So there is also a really great tool that you can use if you need help.
• 38:42
  Awesome. That's great to hear. So, you know, speaking of the rhetoric
• 38:47
  surrounding elections and election cycles, there's been a ton of rhetoric this election cycle specifically.
• 38:56
  Do we need to worry about any kind of intimidation at polling locations or maybe other
• 39:02
  attempts to lower turnout and by extension the vote?
• 39:06
  Yeah, I do think that there is some level of worry. I mean, we are seeing a lot of our democratic
• 39:12
  norms being eroded. Things that are things we never really had to worry about, we do have to
• 39:17
  worry a little bit about now. I will say that for this entire year, we have worked within a coalition.
• 39:24
  We work alongside election administrators,
• 39:27
  the Department of State, all of the county election offices to be able to prepare and make sure that
• 39:32
  our election officials are ready. It's important to know that you do have rights. The ACLU is a
• 39:39
  really great resource to learn about your rights so that you can exercise them. Something else I wanted to mention
• 39:46
  is that it is illegal for law enforcement, including ICE, to be within 100 feet of polling stations.
• 39:53
  And so while there is some talk about this, it is not legal. And I think that there's a lot of people
• 39:59
  who really are supportive of making sure we have a lot of different folks working from civic organizations to the state.
• 40:07
  We've also even worked with local police to make sure that everybody knows that this is the rule and that people have a right to vote freely and safely.
• 40:15
  And again, if you see anything that might feel a little off, you know, trust that gut feeling and just call that 866-R-VOTE and call it in if you see something, if you see someone hanging around.
• 40:27
  And I think that that's something that we've been working to train people on so they understand that.
• 40:32
  And it is a reasonable one.
• 40:33
  And if you are really concerned about going to the polls, I would say that you still have the option to vote by mail.
• 40:40
  You have until October 27th.
• 40:42
  And so if it's something you're feeling a little nervous about,
• 40:45
  I would just encourage you to just vote by mail. And that way you have it done. You can drop it off. You can
• 40:50
  stick it in the mail and you don't have to worry about it. So the concerns are real, but I would say we haven't really seen
• 40:56
  much of anything yet. And just being empowered to know your rights, to know what is allowed and what is not
• 41:02
  allowed and knowing who to go to is a really great way to
• 41:05
  get prepared for the election. Yeah. And, you know, speaking of mail-in ballots, I know at least here
• 41:11
  in Philly where I live, you know, you can actually go to any of the Satellite Commission offices
• 41:18
  and you can actually register to have a mail-in ballot and vote same day in office and just give it to them.
• 41:26
  You don't have to worry about it. Or, you know, there are also drop boxes outside. That's how I
• 41:31
  voted a couple of weeks ago. I got my mail-in ballot, like right at the beginning of everything,
• 41:36
  you know, this time around. So I, you know, gave myself a chance to do that. And,
• 41:42
  you know, that's just one of those things that,
• 41:46
  like, I know it's probably not even across the entire state, but I, you know, at least some places
• 41:52
  you can actually go and vote in person early through a mail-in ballot. Yes. Yeah. So I will also
• 41:59
  mention in terms of accessibility, I don't know if a lot of people know this, but only half of
• 42:03
  counties in Pennsylvania have Dropboxes. That's something we're also working towards because drop boxes have also
• 42:10
  been really helpful, especially actually in rural areas. It's really important. And those are some of
• 42:14
  the areas where people actually have a harder time voting and getting to the polling place.
• 42:20
  Yes, we call that actually over-the-counter voting, what you were talking about. And that
• 42:24
  was one of the ways I was going to mention to vote.
• 42:26
  You can go to your county elections office, fill out your mail-in ballot application, and return it right then and there.
• 42:32
  One-stop shop, you can also do that.
• 42:34
  Put it in a dropbox if you have one, or you can always drop it off at your elections office as well if you don't have a dropbox.
• 42:42
  But that is another over-the-counter voting is a really great
• 42:45
  way to just get it all done in one swift go. And I would also encourage folks, you can also ask
• 42:51
  your local board of elections to add drop boxes. That's something that the counties have control over.
• 42:57
  So if you don't have drop boxes in your county, that's something you can go to your local government
• 43:02
  and advocate for to help more people have access to voting.
• 43:06
  Okay, yeah. So by the time this episode is getting uploaded, Pennsylvania's deadline to register to vote has passed.
• 43:14
  As you mentioned, one method already just now.
• 43:17
  But what methods are available for people to vote by November 3rd still to like?
• 43:23
  So you can still request your mail-in ballot. The
• 43:26
  deadline to request a mail-in ballot is October 27th. I would encourage folks to write down that date.
• 43:33
  I would also say, just like you, Phil, I would request and return it as early as you can.
• 43:38
  You can go to vote.pa is a great resource to find. You can find your local elections office. You can also track your ballot. So you can
• 43:47
  you can see when it's mailed out. You can see when they've received it and when your ballot is accepted.
• 43:53
  So I would also encourage people to make sure that you're checking that and making sure that you receive that in time.
• 43:59
  If you do vote by mail, your ballot needs to be received, not postmarked by 8 p.m. on election day, which is
• 44:07
  November 3rd. So make sure you mail that or drop it off as early as possible and make sure that it is to where it needs to
• 44:14
  be by 8 p.m. on election day. We already talked about over-the-counter voting, which you can do,
• 44:20
  but then also voting in person. I personally vote in person. I really like being able to go and press
• 44:26
  the buttons or check off the boxes and being able to just do that in person. So that's what my plan is.
• 44:34
  And the polls are open on November 3rd from 7am to 8pm. So make sure you make a plan ahead of time.
• 44:41
  Know where you're going to go, check your voter registration,
• 44:48
  know where your polling place is, and just make sure that you have everything you need on election day to be able to vote. And if for some reason you lose your mail-in ballot,
• 44:54
  you can go to your elections office and ask for a provisional ballot. This is also another way to
• 44:59
  vote. It is a slightly different method, but the votes still count just the same.
• 45:03
  yeah and um you know speaking of voting in person if someone does vote It is a slightly different method, but the votes still count just the same.
• 45:14
  Yeah. And, you know, speaking of voting in person, if someone does vote in person and they're in line at the time the polls close, are they able to vote?
• 45:22
  That's another great question. Yes. So if you are in line by 8 p.m. stay in line, no matter how long that line is. if you are in line at 8 p.m.
• 45:24
  You are still able to vote. Whether that line takes five 8 p.m., you are still able to vote.
• 45:26
  Whether that line takes five minutes or an hour, you are still able to stay in that line.
• 45:31
  And if you have any trouble, if anyone gives you a hard time, again, call that 866-R vote number.
• 45:37
  Talk to the judge of elections.
• 45:38
  There are people there that are there to help you. There's a lot of support out there for voters.
• 45:43
  folks can also go to our election guide, Vote411,
• 45:48
  which has all of the election information you need.
• 45:50
  You can find your polling place.
• 45:52
  You can find the list of candidates that are running near you.
• 45:56
  And you can also always email the lead.
• 45:58
  We are going to be around on election day to answer questions from voters.
• 46:02
  And you can also call your county elections office.
• 46:04
  There's a lot
• 46:05
  of people out here that want to help you vote. So please get out there. And yeah, if you're in line,
• 46:10
  just stay in line. And if there's any issues, just talk to somebody and there should be someone who
• 46:15
  can help you. Okay. And, you know, I guess we're kind of close to the end here. Are there any like
• 46:22
  resources or anything that you want to shout out?
• 46:26
  Yes. So again, I would mention Vote411. It's our go-to nonpartisan guide. The election protection
• 46:33
  group that I was mentioning with the hotline, they also do have numbers. If you go to their
• 46:40
  website, they have hotlines that are available in Spanish, Arabic, and I believe one other language,
• 46:46
  oh, maybe Chinese that I'm forgetting.
• 46:49
  And so there are also language things available.
• 46:52
  I would also recommend folks, make sure that you take the time to go and really research what you're voting for.
• 46:58
  Don't show up on the day and just not know what you're doing.
• 47:01
  I think it's really important to be, and empowering, honestly, to be an informed voter.
• 47:05
  Make sure you look up the candidates
• 47:07
  and make your own decision about who you want to vote for
• 47:10
  or what you want to vote for if there's ballot questions.
• 47:13
  And then I would also, the final resource I would recommend is the ACLU.
• 47:17
  They have a ton of great resources on knowing your rights.
• 47:21
  What does it mean to be a poll worker?
• 47:23
  If you're worried about different threats to our election or different resources that are out there, that's another great resource to look for.
• 47:33
  And with the League of Women Voters, nationally or here in Pennsylvania, we have tons of local events.
• 47:38
  Look up your local league and see if they're doing any candidate.
• 47:41
  We've got candidate forums going on, debates.
• 47:43
  This is a really
• 47:45
  great opportunity to hear directly from the people running, to be able to hear their answers on where
• 47:50
  they stand on issues, and that can also help you make an informed decision. So just stay informed,
• 47:55
  stay engaged. Make sure you double-check the information that you're reading online. Make sure
• 48:00
  you find information from a reliable source, especially if you see it on social media.
• 48:05
  Double check.
• 48:13
  And I would say that's going to be a really important thing this election season, too, is to make sure you're doing your own due diligence.
• 48:19
  Unfortunately, in this world, that's what we have to do to make sure the information you're seeing is correct.
• 48:25
  And, yeah, if you have any issues, vote411 is the place you can find all the election information you need.
• 48:28
  And the league is also always here to help voters. If you have questions, if you're not sure about something, that's why we're here to help people get out to vote.
• 48:34
  Excellent. Well, Deb, thanks for coming on. I really appreciate this.
• 48:39
  You know, I think it's really important to, you know, make sure that people know their rights to vote, obviously.
• 48:44
  you know I grew up in a know their rights to vote, obviously.
• 48:51
  You know, I grew up in a very small town in New Hampshire, so we still had like town meetings like every March. So like that's a completely different like form of democracy.
• 48:55
  But yeah, it's really cool to see the different like ways that voting systems work across the country and different places I've lived.
• 49:03
  So, yeah, that's really great.
• 49:05
  And I also just want to say thank you so much for inviting us.
• 49:08
  You know, it's really important to us to be able to reach out to different communities.
• 49:13
  The disability community is so important to our work, so important to our democracy.
• 49:17
  It's actually also, unfortunately, a growing electorate that we really need to pay attention to.
• 49:23
  And really, it's really important for
• 49:25
  us to make sure that voting is accessible for everyone and that people have what they need to
• 49:30
  vote, whether it's assistance at the polls, translation, things like that. So I just really
• 49:35
  want to say thank you for all the work you do. I really admire your organization and the community
• 49:39
  as well. So I really appreciate you having me on. All right. Well, thanks. And yeah. Thank you, Phil. Yep. Wonderful discussion, Deb. Thank you so much.
• 49:54
  Again, I'd like to thank Laura Power and Deb Landau for carving out a bit of time to meet with me virtually to record the discussions we had.
• 50:06
  Please make a plan to vote if you are registered and eligible.
• 50:10
  Until next time, this is Phil Rosen signing off.
• 50:14
  See you in two weeks.
• 50:17
  Please visit our accessible website at www.DisabilityPridePA.org.
• 50:24
  You can find us on social media at disabilitypridepa
• 50:29
  on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.