Press Releases: 2005 Releases

Disability Organizations to Host Historic Voting Summit (2/8/05)

Advocates to focus on how to get more people with disabilities engaged in elections

Washington, DC, February 8, 2005 – The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) and United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) will welcome disability vote leaders from across the nation to the first ever National Disability Vote Summit to strategize about how to get more voters with disabilities engaged in elections. Approximately 20% of the entire voting age population has some form of disability.

Confirmed speakers include:

Mark Mellman, President and CEO of the Mellman Group, and pollster for John Kerry ‘04
Brian Donahue, National Director of the Republican National Committee’s 72 Hour Project
Gracia Hillman, Chair of the Election Assistance Commission

Who: American Association of People with Disabilities and United Cerebral Palsy host key state and national disability vote leaders to analyze 2004 disability vote efforts and strategize for future election cycles. All sessions are open to the media.

When: February 9 – 10th
First session begins at 9:00 a.m. on Day One and 8 a.m. on Day Two

Where: Metro Center Marriott Hotel
Meeting Salons C&D
775 12th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20005

Contact: For a complete schedule of events, please contact Jim Baker.

The AAPD Disability Vote Project, through state organizations, registered tens of thousands of people with disabilities to vote in 2004. DontBlockMyVote.org, the online UCP voting rights campaign generated more than 16,000 letters to Members of Congress and the White House in support of full funding for the Help America Vote Act.

About United Cerebral Palsy

United Cerebral Palsy is one of the nation’s leading organizations serving and advocating for the more than 54 million Americans with disabilities. Most UCP consumers are people with disabilities other than cerebral palsy. Through its nationwide network, United Cerebral Palsy offers services to individuals, families and communities such as job training and placement, physical therapy, individual and family support, early intervention, social and recreation programs, community living, state and local referrals, and instruction on how to use technology to perform everyday tasks. For more information, call (800) 872-5827.

About the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)

AAPD is the country’s largest cross-disability membership organization, with more than 100,000 members. AAPD’s mission is to politically and economically empower the more than 54 million people living with disabilities in the U.S. Toward that end, AAPD is dedicated to educating businesses and the general public about disability issues, and providing membership benefits, such as financial services and product discounts. AAPD helps to unite the diverse community of people with disabilities, including their family, friends and supporters, and to be a national voice for change in implementing the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency.

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