2020 Voter Registration Toolkit for CILs

Did you know that Centers for Independent Living (CILs) can participate in non-partisan voter registration? The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) encourages every Center for Independent Living to provide an opportunity to register to vote to their consumers. 

According to Rutgers University Professors Doug Kruse and Lisa Schur ( https://smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/2018disabilityturnout.pdf ), in 2018, 26% of people with disabilities who were not registered to vote gave “permanent illness or disability” as their reason for not being registered. However, initiatives like National Disability Voter Registration Week and NCIL’s work on voter registration have been encouraging people with disabilities to register to vote, and the voter registration gap between people with and without disabilities in 2018 was only 1.4%.

You can help to fully close that voter registration gap! There is still plenty of time to register voters before the 2020 General Election. We have compiled some resources below to help Centers for Independent Living provide their consumers with the opportunity to register to vote. 

Voter Registration Resources

Although CIL services have gone virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic, you can still conduct voter registration. There are several online voter registration tools that you and your consumers can use.
- American Association of People with Disabilities provides an online voter registration tool powered by Rock The Vote ( https://www.whenweallvote.org/aapdrevup/ ). 
- Vote.gov ( https://vote.gov/ ) is a website run by the federal government where you can find out how to register to vote in your state.

Below are a few key resources to keep in mind and provide to consumers as they register to vote:
- When is your state’s voter registration deadline? Find your state voter registration deadline in this table ( https://www.aucd.org/docs/policy/Voter%20Registration%20Deadlines%20Chart%202020.pdf ) or through the U.S. Vote Foundation’s online tool ( https://www.usvotefoundation.org/vote/state-elections/state-election-dates-deadlines.htm ).
- Voting laws for people with intellectual disabilities and / or guardians are different in each state. The Association of University Centers on Disabilities provides a chart with the rules on voting under guardianship for each state ( https://www.aucd.org/docs/policy/Guardianship Chart.pdf ). 
- What kind of voter identification do you need to vote in your state? View the VoteRiders voter ID map ( https://www.voteriders.org/staterules/ ) or visit Vote.org’s resource on voter ID laws in your state ( https://www.vote.org/voter-id-laws/ ) to find out what the requirements are for voter ID in your state.
   
Did you know that Tuesday, September 22 is National Voter Registration Day? 

National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) is a nonpartisan civic holiday that takes place each year on the fourth Tuesday in September. Since NVRD started in 2012, nearly three million voters have registered to vote on the holiday, and organizations and volunteers across the country join together to make the day a success.
- Your organization can join as a partner on National Voter Registration Day. Nonprofits are encouraged to register as an NVRD partner, and you will receive free posters, stickers, trainings, and accesses to resources about voter registration. Join as a National Voter Registration Day Partner ( https://nationalvoterregistrationday.org/organization/ ). 
- As part of NVRD, you can hold a virtual voter registration guide, share a press release from your organization about celebrating NVRD, and plan social media and email messaging to encourage people to register to vote on September 22nd.

Have any questions about voter registration? Please contact Sarah Blahovec, NCIL Voting Rights and Civic Engagement Organizer, at 202-207-0334 extension 1103 or at sarah@ncil.org.