La Semana del Derecho al Voto de las Personas con Discapacidad es un llamado a la acción anual que ocurre durante la segunda semana de septiembre. Se centra en la promoción, la celebración de la comunidad y la construcción de empoderamiento. Según los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC por sus siglas en inglés), a julio de 2024, más de 2.9 millones de adultos en Pensilvania viven con una discapacidad. Mallory Hudson, del Keystone Progress Education Fund, dice que esta semana se alienta a los residentes de Pensilvania a que se tomen el tiempo para organizar eventos educativos y de registro de votantes, organizar foros de candidatos sobre cuestiones de discapacidad e interactuar con funcionarios electos.

"Nosotros en Keystone Progress Education Fund estamos aprovechando esta semana para iniciar nuestra primera de muchas campañas de registro de votantes en centros de enfermería especializada y hogares de cuidado personal en todo el condado de Allegheny. Más de 125.000 personas viven en todos los centros de enfermería especializada y hogares de cuidado personal de Pensilvania," enfatizó además la entrevistada.

Hudson agrega que si las personas con discapacidad votaran al mismo ritmo que las que no, se podrían haber emitido 1.75 millones de votos más en las elecciones generales de 2020. Añade que este noviembre los 19 votos del Colegio Electoral de Pensilvania la hacen influyente en las carreras presidenciales. Y los votantes del estado también elegirán miembros del Congreso, senadores y representantes estatales, así como otros funcionarios a nivel estatal.

Hudson dice que mejorar la accesibilidad electoral para las personas con discapacidades es un enfoque positivo para dar forma a futuros inclusivos para los residentes de Pensilvania. También explica que muchas barreras impiden que las personas con discapacidad ejerzan su pleno derecho al voto. Los ejemplos incluyen lugares de votación inaccesibles, capacitación insuficiente para los trabajadores electorales sobre dispositivos accesibles para marcar las boletas y conceptos erróneos sobre la capacidad de los votantes discapacitados y más.

"Pensilvania no permite la votación en la acera en ningún lugar de votación, sean o no accesibles según la ADA. Si llega a su lugar de votación el día de las elecciones y aún no puede ingresar, puede ir a la oficina electoral de su condado para solicitar una boleta alternativa de emergencia. Pero entonces este problema de accesibilidad puede convertirse en un problema de transporte," aseguró también la entrevistada.

Hudson explica que para que un lugar de votación se considere accesible según el Americans with Disabilities Act (o ADA por sus siglas en inglés), debe cumplir con ciertos estándares como: estacionamiento, áreas de bajada de pasajeros, entradas, rutas interiores y exteriores, rampas, ascensores y elevadores, para personas que usan asistencia para la movilidad y personas ciegas o con baja visión. Hudson agrega que los estándares ADA son mínimos y no garantizan accesibilidad para todas las personas con discapacidades.

Pro-worker and pro-democracy organizers and activists in Nevada are coming together to oppose some of the policies of President Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the current administration.

The Hands Off! protest set for Saturday in Carson City is one of more than 1,000 taking place around the country.

Kimberly Carden, a leader of Indivisible Northern Nevada, said the national protest will be the largest single day of action since Trump took office for a second term. Carden said they'll be advocating for strengthening programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and they'll demand an end to federal worker layoffs and attacks on immigrants and transgender people.

"We aren't scared, we aren't going to be intimidated, and this is a big movement," she said, "and it's going to help our elected representatives buck up and fight back."

Carden said it's all about calling out attacks on democratic principles that affect everyone, regardless of political values and beliefs. The protest comes after an eventful week in the nation's capital - including enacting a range of tariffs on goods from foreign countries that are expected to increase prices.

A new survey finds Trump's approval rating has fallen to its lowest point so far.

The "Hands Off" event starts at noon outside the Legislative Building.

Lois Stokes, a member of the group Bans Off Our Bodies, said she's astonished by the number of people now unemployed because of federal mass firings. As a former statistician with the state who worked on employment and wage data, Stokes said she thinks the situation is particularly dire in Nevada.

"Getting rid of the federal maintenance workers that handle these old buildings - and well, even the new ones," she said. "The people that are monitoring our water quality, they've been fired. Who's looking out for those interests?"

Stokes said she hopes this weekend's event serves to remind folks they have a voice and power.

"For too long, we've let things like this slide," she said, "or, 'Oh well, that's too bad - maybe next time, you know, we'll vote someone in' - and I am really hoping it's a wake-up call."


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Some Colorado lawmakers are scrambling to protect voter rights after President Donald Trump issued an executive order to require proof of citizenship to register to vote. They say the requirement would disproportionately affect low-income voters and people of color.

David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the language in the U.S. Constitution is very clear that the authority to run elections is delegated to individual states.

"Everyone - Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative - wants to keep ineligible voters off the list. And there's always some value in discussing how to do it better," he explained. "Unfortunately that's not what this executive order does. It's really a remarkable seizure of power from the states."

Trump has cast doubt on the integrity of American elections for years, despite evidence that fraud is extremely rare. The new order claims the nation has failed "to enforce basic and necessary election protections," and would allow the Department of Homeland Security and 'DOGE' to access state voter rolls. Colorado Senate Bill 1 - which would bar voter discrimination based on race, sexual orientation or gender identity - has cleared the state Senate and now moves to the House.

Becker noted that Congress does have constitutional authority to change election rules, and did so most notably after passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. And in 2021, he says House Democrats passed a sweeping set of election reforms that ended up dying in the Senate.

"But at least that was done through congressional action. What we have here is an executive power grab - an attempt by the President of the United States to dictate to states how they run elections, how they should exercise the power that is granted to them by the Constitution," he continued.

Becker noted the new order suggests serious misunderstandings, intentional or not, about the nation's election system, which he says is secure. It's already illegal for non-U.S. citizens to vote, and voter lists are as accurate as they've ever been. More than 95% of all U.S. voters use paper ballots, which are available in all states, and ballots are audited to confirm results.


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Indiana's school board elections moved closer to becoming partisan after the House of Representatives narrowly approved a bill requiring candidates to list political affiliations on ballots.

If enacted, candidates must declare a party affiliation, list themselves as independent or remain nonpartisan. Party-affiliated candidates would have their designation appear on ballots.

Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, spent nine years on a school board and opposes the bill.

"The whole premise of this bill is there's politics in the schools, let's just put more politics in the schools," Moseley pointed out. "You can choose to believe me or not believe me, but the fact of the matter is we kept politics out of that."

Supporters argued school boards already operate along party lines and said voters should know candidates' political leanings. The bill passed 54-40 with 14 Republicans joining 26 Democrats who voted no. It now returns to the Senate for final approval.

Opponents of Senate Bill 287 claimed the change would inject unnecessary partisanship into local education, making elections more divisive. Only Democrats spoke against the measure during debate, warning it would deepen political divides in schools.

Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, said school boards are already partisan.

"One party is saying it's OK that biological males can compete with our daughters in sports; another party is pushing against that," Lucas contended. "One party thinks it's OK to sterilize and mutilate children; another party's pushing against that."

If the Senate approves the changes, Indiana will join a handful of states with fully partisan school board elections.


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