Since 1995, the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) has worked tirelessly alongside disability advocates, government agencies, and corporate and nonprofit partners to advance the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act – and there’s more work to be done.
REV UP’s mission is to build the power of the disability vote through increasing civic engagement in the disability community and improving the accessibility of elections.
The REV UP campaign has five main focus areas (voter outreach, increasing election accessibility, fighting voter suppression, building civic engagement, and growing visibility) and many goals within those areas. AAPD works closely with state and community leaders, and we provide small grants to fund their work.
- Voter Outreach is working every year to register new disabled voters with a goal to register 1,000 disabled voters by August 2024 and register 200 voters residing in congregate settings. The REV UP campaign works to educate all disabled voters on their rights and how to vote in their state.
- Increasing Election Accessibility is working hard to build relationships with federal and local election officials to ensure that they view accessibility as a top priority. REV UP is also working to help introduce pro-voter legislation at the federal level.
- Fighting Voter Suppression works each year to fight against any anti-voter bills and practices that pop up at the state and federal levels. REV UP also works to conduct polling place accessibility audits, to ensure that polling places know how to increase accessibility.
- Building Civic Engagement as a whole is building civic engagement in the disability community, and AAPD does this while prioritizing intersectionality and grassroots organizing.
- Grow Visibility works to grow the visibility of the disability voting bloc and disability perspective in campaign conversations.
To learn more about the goals of each focus area and get involved, visit the REVving UP for 2024 blog on AAPD’s website.