MESSAGE FROM KEVIN COHEN, INSTITUTE ON DISABILITIES: Many of you have heard me voice my opinion about absentee voting and people with disabilities; if not, here it is in a nutshell ... I’m sure that lots of talented and committed people are going to be working hard to ensure vote place accessibility, but this is not the election for that. In fact, this year many conscientious non-disabled people (like myself) will be casting their vote by absentee ballot so as to help create a paper trail and avoid using a voting machine that has been leased from a guy who eats breakfast at the ranch in Crawford - check out black box voting

I believe the same people who are working towards voter place accessibility could change their message and there efforts to emphasis to voter registration and the power of the absentee ballot. This NY Times editorial shares some of my views, but also describes how disability rights groups may actually be hampering the efforts to provide more accountability in future elections. While I have your attention, i strongly suggest you look at http://blackboxvoting.com

Also the NY times has a special page dedicated to editorials about Making Votes Count - there are many interesting articles there including this one which documents efforts in Florida that have begun to suppress the African American vote.

Kevin J Cohen M.S. CCC-SLP
Coordinator of Augmentative Communication Services
Institute on Disabilities/UCDD, Temple University 215-204-1356