Welcome to www.disabilityvoteil.org! We are weeks away from the election, and Americans around the country are getting ready to cast their votes.

This year’s election is unique and there is increased confusion over the election process.  That is why we have established a central point for disabled voters of Illinois, which is needed now more than ever.  The central site is www.disabilityvoteil.org.

A transcript of this video is provided on our site at disabilityvoteil.org.

Hi, my name is Vanessa Harris, founder of Strategy for Access Foundation.

Today, I am going to share with you some very important information on how to get your ballot cast. We all deserve to have our unique perspectives heard, and we want to make sure that disabled voices are not silenced.  Our votes matter!

The most important things to do are

1. to make sure you are registered to vote, and
2. make sure that your ballot is cast in a timely manner!

The first step when going to vote is to make sure that you are properly registered. To find out if you are currently registered, visit the Illinois Online Voter Registration Application Website at www.ova.elections.il.gov.

Once there, you can enter your information and find out if you are officially registered.

If you are not registered, have recently moved, or have changed your name, you will need to register to vote.

You can register three ways:

• online on elections.il.gov.
• in person at your local election authority,
• by mail through printing an application and sending it to your local office,

To find out how to contact your local election office, check our website at www.disabilityvoteil.org.

Once you are certain that you are registered, there are a few different ways to complete your vote.

• You can request a mail-in ballot through your county’s election office, which will be mailed to you to be completed before election day. It is highly recommended that you fill out and send in your ballot as soon as you can, so as not to risk your ballot not arriving on time. Requesting these ballots can be done online, or through the mail as well.
• Voting in person can also be accomplished, both the day of the election and up to a month before during the early voting period.

According to the Helping Americans Vote Act, polling places are required by law to be equipped with accessible voting stations for the disabled. These voting stations allow for blind and visually impaired voters to cast their ballot independently, as well being designed for voters with mobility issues.   In addition to accessible machines, voters can also have help from a friend or an election official to complete their vote.

If you are voting in person, you may want to confirm with your local election office well in advance of the day you plan to vote to make sure that they are in fact able to provide these services and to avoid any surprises on the day. You can do this by calling them or visiting their website in advance. To find out how to contact your local election office, check our website at www.disabilityvoteil.org.

I hope this has given you some good information on the complicated process that is voting.  A coalition of nonprofit and non-partisan organizations who are part of the disability community are bringing you this information.

If you would like more information on specific instructions for your county, or if you have questions that remain unanswered, please go to our website at www.disabilityvoteil.org, where you will be able to find many more resources on voting in the 2024 general election.

We cannot let anything prevent us from participating in our own democracy. Stay safe everyone and thanks for watching.

Our votes matter!