Are disabled voters a political force for the midterm elections?
Earlier this week, Forbes published an article from Andrew Pulrang exploring the impact that disabled voters could have on the 2022 elections.
With control of both chambers of Congress in play this November, a bloc of voters in a handful of states could decide which party controls the legislative branch of government next year.
And it turns out that disabled voters are no small voting bloc. According to Rutgers University researchers Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse – as written about in the article – 17.7 million people with disabilities voted in the 2020 general election.
Their influence is also increasing. According to the article, Schur and Kruse’s reports show that, “the gap between disabled and non-disabled voting in 2008 was 7 percent. But by the 2020 election, the gap had shrunk to only 5.7 percent. The disability vote is growing, gradually but decisively.”
Pulrang points out that lawmakers “have the power to safeguard, improve, or undermine disabled people’s lives and place in society. Still, it can be hard for candidates in active races, whose immediate priority is simply to win the most votes, to see why they should give disabled voters more than a passing thought and a fleeting goodwill gesture.”
He goes on to list six things he considers important for candidates to know about voters who identify themselves as disabled.
If you are a NOSSCR member advocating for disabled claimants, the next time you speak to your client, you just might be talking to the person who will help decide control of Congress next year.
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