News

The annual National Disability Voter Registration Week (NDVRW) is July 13-17, 2020. NDVRW is a national, nonpartisan campaign to register, educate, and prepare voters with disabilities. The National MS Society supports National Disability Voter Registration Week and National Voter Registration Day (the fourth Tuesday of September).

In recent presidential election years, only about 60% of the eligible population has voted; the voter turnout rate of people with disabilities is nearly 6% lower than that of other Americans. Currently more than 1 out of 7 eligible voters lives with a disability. Voting is one of our nation’s most fundamental rights and a hallmark of our democracy. Yet for too long, many people with disabilities have been excluded from this core aspect of citizenship. The National MS Society encourages everyone living with MS to register to vote this week.
 
Empowering Americans to vote has rarely been more important and more challenging. America’s 2020 elections take place amid the ongoing global COVID-19, as well a national reckoning with systemic anti-Black racism and police violence. Without the ability to safely host voter registration and education drives at campuses, grocery stores, and community centers, our efforts must shift to online registration and virtual outreach. 
 
The disability community will play an immense role in upcoming local, state, and federal elections. In 2020, over 35 million people with disabilities are eligible to vote, a number which increases to 62 million when including family members in the same household. The power of the disability vote can hold our elected officials accountable for decisions that directly affect the programs and services people with disabilities rely on to live independently in the community of their choice.

If you'd like to register to vote, visit the National Voter Registration Day website.
 
If you want to stay involved in activism, sign up to be an MS Activist here: Join the MS Activist Network.