A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
One in six eligible American voters now has a disability, and a third of eligible voters either has a disability or lives with someone with a disability. This voting bloc is growing as the population ages. That's according to a recent report by Rutgers University. It found that the total number of eligible voters with disabilities exceeds the total number of either Black or Hispanic eligible voters.
I've asked Dom Kelly about what the presidential campaigns may or may not understand about the broader needs and wants of disabled voters ahead of Election Day. Kelly is a co-founder and CEO of New Disabled South, an advocacy group based in Atlanta.
DOM KELLY: Regardless of the administration, we don't see an investment in the things that would liberate our community. We don't see people in our community being - having seats at tables of power. We don't see people in our community being given the opportunities to have high-paying jobs. We need a narrative shift, and I think that will help us show that we are a powerful community and that we deserve to be invested in.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, your group, New Disabled South, focuses on disability justice and rights in the South. And I understand that the South has the highest rate of disability among all eligible voters. So what are some of the particular challenges and needs that you face in your region?
KELLY: Yeah, well, we have one-third of the disabled people in this country here in the South. The majority of those folks are Black and brown. And we have the states with the highest poverty in the South that - 7 out of the 10 states in this country that have yet to expand Medicaid are in the South. We have enormous numbers of disabled people who are in the coverage gap, who are not receiving Medicaid. We have 75% of the people who are on waiting lists for home care waivers in the South.
MARTÍNEZ: So what are some of the messages from former President Donald Trump and from Vice President Kamala Harris that have either resonated with you or maybe upset you or bothered you so far in this campaign?
KELLY: Yeah, I mean, it has been very clear that former President Donald Trump does not care for nor values the disability community. Vice President Harris has a disability engagement director on the campaign, and the Biden administration has done a number of things that have helped improve disabled people's lives. But I can't think of one political campaign that has done really phenomenal work around the disability community. And for the vast majority of political campaigns in the history of this country, they often do not have any meaningful outreach to the disability community, and we're not thought of as a powerful voting bloc.
MARTÍNEZ: Why do you think that is? Why do you think you're not thought of as a powerful voting bloc?
KELLY: Well, I think, one, we don't have enough data to be able to show the impact that our community has on elections. We're starting to see that. A Rutgers report just came out in the last couple of weeks that shows there are 40.2 million eligible disabled voters this election cycle. There are 61 million disabled adults in this country. There are tens of millions of newly disabled people as a result of COVID-19. And so it's getting to the point where they can no longer ignore us because our community is growing, and they're going to have to start to meet our needs because they will unfortunately be a part of our community, too. We're the only minority community that you can join at any time.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Dom Kelly, co-founder and CEO of the advocacy group, New Disabled South. Dom, thank you very much.
KELLY: Thank you.
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