Resources for Becoming an Informed Voter
MCDHH: The Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans has a strong Get Out the Vote effort for Minnesota. Find out about their efforts.
Captioning for Political Campaigns: The Minnesota Legislature recently passed the requirement that all campaign ads be captioned for state campaigns of those candidates receiving public funding. Digiterp Communications created a web site, www.prettygoodcandidate.org, to assist candidates in captioning their ads. Check it out.
Minnesota's Voting Process: The Minnesota Secretary of State's website has printable forms and answers to many questions about registering to vote in Minnesota.
Find Your Polling Place in Minnesota: This site, from the Minnesota Secretary of State's website, allows you to put in your address and zip code and find the address of your polling place, as well as see a map to your polling place.
Minnesota Participation Project: This effort on the part of the Minnesota Council of Non-Profits, is working to do non-partisan voter registration. Digiterp is supporting the Minnesota Commission Serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing People in its involvement with this project.
FactCheck and PolitiFact: These jounralistic services report on what politicians are saying in their advertisements or speeches are in line with the facts. It also checks chain e-mails that make claims about candidates. If you are wondering if something is true, these are two places to look to see if the facts back up the claims.
English Summaries of the ASL Texts
Trudy Suggs
Trudy shares an experience from her time at Gallaudet University. During one election for Student Body Government, there were two sets of candidates. One was clearly more qualified and experienced than the other. Many of Trudy's friends assumed that the first slate of candidates (Team A) would win, because the choice was so clear. When Trudy went to vote on election day, she discovered that turnout had been very light. That night, when there was an assembly to announce the results, many people were shocked to find that "Team B" had won by 52 votes. Many of who were expecting Team A to win didn't bother to vote. If they had, Team A would have easily won. That next year was a difficult one for the Study Body Government, with lots of difficulties with finances and student services. If more people had exercised their right to vote, it might have been a much better year.
Sherri Rademacher
While many people think that voting requires a lot of political intelligence, Sherri thinks it is more a demonstration of our freedom as people. In graduate school, a professor from Russia shared the experience of having to vote under the watchful eye of the miltary. If she didn't vote, she was threatened with losing her vote. This is in stark contrast from the American experience where we have the freedom to choose who we want to vote for. You can also meet with your legislators and voice your concerns. Voting only takes a few minutes, and it's free so register and vote.
Diana McKittrick
Diana shares several reasons for voting. The first is that as a citizen of the United States, without voting, you have no right to complain about inadequate services. The second is that voting can make a difference in your life. Electing candidates may lead to them passing laws that improve our lives. The third reason is that people often win by narrow margins and your vote could be the one that makes the difference.
Sharon White
It is important to vote. You have a right to share your opinion with politicians. Your voice is important. Without voting, when you look at what's happening in the world, like war, you don't have a right to complain. So, please vote.
Randy Shank
You're lucky to live in America because of the right to vote because around the world, Deaf people can't vote in many countries. Historically, many people weren't allowed to vote here, but that has gradually changed so all people are able to vote. Without voting, you don't really have a right to complain. Deaf people often are in discussions and complain about the President, or Mayor, or Governor and their policies. But without voting, politicians don't really have a reason to listen to you. So, it's important for you to vote.
