six, five, four one of the most important rights of American citizens is the right to vote.

>> This right to participate in the political process is guaranteed by law for persons with disabilities.

>> However, the voting process can be very, very challenging and particularly this year though the challenge is being met by an inclusive voting initiative that is being launched in Allen County to address those barriers that individuals may face with particularly if they are dealing with disabilities in order to cast their ballots.

We'll be talkin with the leaders behind this particular civic outreach on this evening's PrimeTime.

And good evening Ember's with us this evening.

>> Our guests include Mandy Wakeford.

She is a steering committee member with the Northeast Indiana Disability Advocacy Coalition and also with us Heather Schillinger who is a Community Action Project member with leadership Fort Wayne .

>> And we'd like to get to know who you are as well.

If you'd like to join our conversation, feel free to call in your questions and comments by using the number that you see on the screen.

So we're widening out and we're welcoming Mandy or welcoming Heather.

>> Thank you both for being here.

Thank you.

Thanks for having us.

Sure.

We heard in the introduction my attempt at saying night back and left you and in this world of acronyms it's probably a good place to start to build on that acronym and tell us a little bit more about the agencies you represent SAMANDAR Northeast Indiana Disability Advocacy Coalition.

>> Correct.

Take it.

Got it right.

Thank you.

Thanks for having us tonight.

So Nidetch was formed in 2008 by individuals with disabilities, advocates for disabilities and organizations that serve people with disabilities and the whole focus was to create a coalition of organizations and people that would present a unified voice to our community when it comes to issues that individuals with disabilities might face.

>> And so there's three principles that we really focus on with Nidetch.

One of those is to build an inclusive region.

We want our communities to be as inclusive as possible for people with disabilities.

The second is equity making sure that individuals with disabilities have equity in and able to access every part of life in our community.

>> And the third is really enabling people with disabilities to have choice.

We want people with disabilities to have consumer choice over provider preference so when they're looking for services and programs they have the opportunity to make that decision of what's best for them.

We have twenty five members and that ranges from service providers the Allen County Public Library, the Audio Reading Service HWC Foundation ,Turnstone C10 Dasani lots of different organizations throughout our community that either serve individuals with disabilities or advocate for people with disabilities and so we come together quarterly with different ideas for education.

We put together advocacy campaigns like this one to provide information to our community members but then also we work to connect with elected officials in our community and statewide as well.

So our organization has held various programs and opportunities to connect with elected officials and candidates for office as well.

>> So the interconnection of it all and the the blessing of the asset of so many nonprofit social service organizations in particular absolutely having a chance to have a sounding board and a place for input and output all at the same time.

>> Yeah, well leadership Fort Wayne is something about which many might be familiar even if you're not from here there's sometimes leadership Dallas or leadership San Francisco but here in the leadership Fort Wayne what are we talking about here?

>> Yeah so leadership Fort Wayne is a leadership program that is for what was a signature adult civic leadership development program that's designed for an annual group of emerging to seasoned professionls who have shown their ability to achieve personal goals as well as have a desire to serve their community.

>> This is a multiple month kind of thing you're signing on for .

You don't get graded but there is kind of a show up for class and get involved and get to know those who are going through the program with you on an annual basis at that group.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

It's a nine month immersive program.

We meet once a month full day for Thursday.

We meet throughout the community to learn about the different things that are going on and how everything kind of works within the community and when that background is absorbed hopefully not just by osmosis but by actually trying to work through things like the project we're going to talk about tonight then you're prepared to step out and be involved in that community.

I think you're looking to serve on nonprofit boards and things of that nature.

>> Absolutely.

Yeah, that's part of the program actually is a board internship where you can have an internship to be on a board.

So that's that is really awesome.

>> You get to connect and network and yeah.

Well these community action projects seem like a fairly recent but wonderful addition to what leadership Fort Wayne takes on to tell me about Cap because we're going for acronyms.

>> Yeah.

So the CAP team what happens is local nonprofits are paired with a group of leadership Fort Wayne classmates to create, develop and implement an initiative.

So my team my captain was paired with with Nate with the initiative of a voting rights initiative to and with the goal to increase the awareness of accessible voting options.

>> There are a world of different alternatives for thinking what could be a cap option.

What what was it about voting and voting rights that made you think that's the one right there?

>> Yeah, so I am very passionate about voting.

I do believe that you know, if you want things done in your community you have to have that voice cast your vote.

I was also a part of the Inclusion Institute's first year Leadership Academy which was through the League of the Blind and Disabled and that really it just kind of went right in line with that.

So I felt like it was appropriate.

>> I had a good knowledge, a good background on it.

It was very exciting and so the phone rings, you get an email Mandy how the did I do back then?

And leadership Fort Wayne come together around all this.

>> Yeah.

So Krater for winning who runs the program for the leadership?& Fort Wayne was looking for projects and Nidetch was looking at this election season as you know it's an important election for for all of us and we had learned that twenty three percent of voters participated last year which is a low number of participation.

And so we started thinking we really need some more more help with this initiative and we wanted to make sure that we were bringing awareness to this issue with many leaders in our community.

So when we saw the opportunity to apply to be a camp project we reached out and connected with them and thankfully they selected us to participate and so once we were able to work with Greater Fort Wayne waning, they had a variety of organizations that shared what they're working on and then we had about eight members pick this projec for the camp team so it was connecting with greater fort winning and making sure that this is front and center with leaders in our community.

So not only do we have eight new individuals helping bring ideas to help reach potential voters and help make voting more accessible in our community.

But we're also able to help inform eight more leaders about disability information and help build more knowledge for them as leaders in our community.

>> So it's a great partnership in terms of reaching our community and helping equip our leaders as well and even within its name the Inclusive Voter Initiative this speaks to one of the pillars you were mentioning a moment ago inclusive how in what way to allow for I'm assuming full access to the voting process and to that everyone is in no matter how they approach.

Yeah.

The ballot box.

Yeah, absolutely.

We were really looking we had two different focuses for the initiative one education to voters about the different ways to vote.

>> There's several accessible voting options and then also working with our board of election to help train our poll workers to make sure they're equipped to work with people with disabilities and for members of the group.

>> What do you do to define success?

>> You're taking a project and also what we've done so far is we have made sure to reach out to the Board of Elections and the League of Women Voters to learn more about what they're already doing to ensure accessible voting options and polling locations.

>> We have worked on building awareness of the accessible voting options.

We have provided training materials to the volunteer poll workers to help them better understand the best ways of assisting individuals with disabilities.

We've also worked on establishing an ongoing relationship between Natick and the Board of Elections and we've also connected with the voters with disabilities, you know, to help encourage them to share their voice and learn about the different ways that they can cast their votes.

>> And I'm thinking in the communiqué and then between leadership will win and no doubt you received this operation.

How how has that kind of activity been received and what's been the response?

>> That's a great question.

So initially we actually in partnership of leadership part way and we created a survey that we shared with our community to hear from people with disabilities in any project that we're working on with Nidetch we really want to make sure we're hearing directly from people with disabilities and learning what are those barriers that they might face.

So we heard from about 40 members in our community and we were able to understand what are some challenges they might be facing when it comes to voting.

Maybe it's transportation and maybe it's accessing the polling location.

Maybe it's being able to see the ballot on the screen, maybe changing the contrast on the screen.

So being able to understand those issues directly from individuals with disabilities was really important first and-h those objectives that we want to reach in terms of making sure more individuals disabilities are registered, making sure they're aware of the accessible voting options and then equipping our poll workers with a variety of training to be able to serve people with disabilities.

>> Yeah, I'm imagining timing is everything in this sense too because of the desire to have as many questions answered or any kinks straightened out, you know, say April, May, June before you get to August, September or October .

>> And so I'm imagining the calendar was probably your friend and your motivator all at the same time always.

>> Yeah.

It was a very fast moving and we knew we had some deadlines to meet.

We still have deadlines to me, you know.

So yeah, we started running in January.

They kicked off the program in January and worked right towards the primary in April and this is just a few of some of the statistics that are out there driving this.

And I want to get your your reactions to these and you mentioned the one that people with disabilities have a twenty percent likelihood of having difficulties with voting in person as opposed to six percent without a disability.

So twenty with six without one in four American adults have a disability according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Eleven percent of voters with disabilities had some type of difficulty voting in the election in twenty twenty and that indicates a total of nearl two million voters with disabilities experiencing difficulties and it keeps on going.

But the one that sticks with me the most when we think about the percentage of those who voted at all if people with disabilities voted at the same rate as people without disabilities who have the same demographic characteristic, there would be about one point seventy five million more voters.

>> So as you get activity to the polls, it's I'm assuming that this project in that sense is almost like measuring the wind.

You can't see the wind but you want to be able to see what the wind can cause from what it can do and getting people to the polls to see those participation numbers go up I imagine regardless of party that's that's a positive thing.

>> Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

And it's so important that people have disabilities have a chance to have their voices heard and this is one way that they're able to do that.

And so when Heather was sharing more about how important voting is and why she participated in the project, we're just hopeful that people have more chances to get engaged with voting and understand the different options that are available.

>> Thank you.

Know, I think about the relationship that both of you have in this as as agencies but also the the ripple effect because there have been other partnerships going on.

You mentioned the Allen County Election Board.

You were at the IWC Disabilities Expo to talk about this bonus collaboration thing that seems almost spontaneous in times like this.

>> Yeah, it's really felt like with leadership between they've brought so many new ideas to the table they've helped make new connections for us.

The Board of Elections has been wonderful to work with and we've really found a partnership there with our project with leadership Fort Wayne where we've worked with the League of Women Voters.

They were at the Disabilities Expo with the Leadership Fort Wayne team to help register voters right there at the expo.

We're actually working on a partnership with While and I as well they're having an event at the farmer's market on September twenty eight called Lead the Vote working on registering voters, getting people bring awareness to how to vote.

So we're going to include some inclusive elements there.

>> So it's really snowballed and they've really helped bring some more energy and connections to the initiative.

We have some images to share and Heather, you could maybe fill us in on what it was like to take this project to something like the Disabilities Expo, what that was like I mean that that really must have been the perfect time to be sure that as many know about how to get on board as possible.

>> Yeah.

So unfortunately I was I was not at it then I'm sorry I did not attend that.

However it was very fun getting prepared for all of the materials that were utilized like we made some cookies that was super awesome.

>> It was just really exciting and getting to brainstorm on how to get people pulled in and get people excited about it and then to have them carry it out there.

>> As you can see and as the in fact the handout or the display piece that you had there, we have an opportunity to share this now and so let's do it and then we'll share again toward the close the program.

But we have additional places where viewers watching tonight can go to get additional information on air online and let's let's show those first of all in no particular order we have nine deck itself available on Facebook and we also have leadership Fort Wayne which is a broad way of getting connected for sure with the program.

But you are telling us as we were getting set for the show this evening, Indiana voters Diane dot gov is a way to ensure those a lot of those basic answers like where do I vote and how do I get registered and when the deadline is certainly League of Women Voters Fort Wayne that's another biggie that they've got and then all of that is followed by three other websites.

They are a little cumbersome so we'll leave this up for a little bit.

But I'm sure both of you have een finding that the moment you go to your favorite search engine and type something in your computer has the nerve to share a lot of stuff back that that's true.

>> Yeah.

And that you want to be able to sift through things there is the Election Act Access Commission talking about voting accessibility and they were the ones from whom there were additional statistics, not the least of which was one that says we're not all getting any younger as we age and as boomers go to millennials and Gen X and so forth that there will be that many more voters during the next 25 years who are going to need some assistance at the polling place.

So all of this to say have you thought about that idea this could be a real pay it forward kind of project?

>> Absolutely.

>> Absolutely.

We all are going to get older, you know, so and the kind of access we're talking about mobility and you mentioned visibility.

Yeah, And mobility too is whether you can even get out of the house period.

>> Right.

Right.

I think when you when you think about accessible voting options of course you think of in-person voting and there are are different opportunities for accessibilty when it comes to voting in person.

So the Board of Elections invested in some new voting cases this past year which means that the voting mechanism can actually be taken out and put on the lap of an individual who might not be able to stand to vote.

So there's that option.

There is a double talk reader who will read the ballot to the voter.

There's also they can change the contrast on the machine and I think an important one that I actually was not aware of until this project that a voter can bring a person to assist them to vote, they have to come and register at the at the table with the board of elections there before they assist with voting.

But an individual can bring a person with them.

So that's in-person voting.

There's also absentee ballot voting that's really we know quite I'm sure you've heard about that before.

There are deadlines on when to apply.

So the deadline is October 4th that is not postmarked that's in the board of elections by four thirty that day and there's also a traveling board which is one from each party, an individual from each party will come to an individual's home or a nursing home or facility and help them vote there.

And so there is an opportunity to apply with the board of elections for that vote voting board to come to them and then there's also an absentee voter with print disabilities which is actually an online tool where if you have a visual impairment or if you have a disability that affects your dexterity and you're able to vote physically in person, you can register with the state of Indiana with the board of elections and have that as well.

>> So there are several different options beyond absentee ballot and in-person voting and the key in this is if you think you are eligible to seek and find search and click, pick up the phone and call but do it now because a lot of these may well be appointment driven.

>> Yeah, I think it's important to make sure that you are reaching the deadline so better safe to find that information or call the Board of Elections and that the traveling board I was not aware of that and I also understad going into Election Day that if you did not bring someone that at each polling site pick it up for me.

>> Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So if you don't have anybody who can come with you to assist you, you can when you go to the polling location you can let them know that you need assistance and what happens from there is to poll workers from opposite political parties will be there to assist you.

>> What kind of feedback have you been receiving so far on this?

I wonder if persons who have disabilities who have been either frustrated or challenged or energized by wanting to move through this right and be successful at it.

>> Any encouragement along the way so far?

>> Yeah, definitely.

I think that a lot of people appreciate the fact that they can find something like a lot of the fliers we've created You know, it has all of the information right there for you even QR codes to easily access the websites or the specific websites that you need to access and people people do want it.

They want accessibility when it comes to being able to vote because it is a very important thing.

>> You know, Bruce , when you talked about connections to one thing that leadership Fort Wayne and this initiative has helped provide us to share information with those Nidetch members.

>> So those twenty four organizations who are also receiving this information that they can then share with individuals with disabilities as well.

So it's really just been energizing for sure in terms of connecting with those different organizations and people with disabilities as well.

>> And that has to be another part of the power of these projects because you you think you know who your partners are at the beginning and at the end you find there are a few more people standing around for the group photo.

>> Absolutely.

I will say one thing I realize is there are a lot there's so many organizations out there that I never knew never heard of until I was in something like leadership for Wayne where I was able to gain all the access to all these networking and all these associations and everything that are out there now we still have some time on the clock prior to November.

So take it from where we are now to then what's what's what's next what's up next for the project as you're looking ahead to the final curtain call for this?

>> Yeah, so we you know, our first step was really gathering information from people with disabilities and understanding what are the accessible voting options now we're really entering that education time period where we're trying to share the information and get it in the hands people with disabilities so there will be more sharing of the fliers that they created and information that leadership and cap team has created and then also extending more training to our poll workers making sure they're ready to serve people with disabilities when people arrive to vote on on Election Day.

>> I think to Heather, you've made a few more friends along the way at the election board and elsewhere, right?

>> Yeah.

I mean even just in leadership own I'm I'm someone who I'm pretty introverted so getting the ability or having the opportunity to have a classroom full of 60 other individuals, you know, who are all trying to work on their leadership development and and grow themselves, it's definitely helped me blossom a little bit more.

>> I'm here on TV now so so yeah.

Just just being able to be around a group of other individuals who are out there trying to do exactly what I'm doing.

>> It's been really well they promised a memorable learning experience and a way to get connected in the community to a leadership.

Fort Wayne is certainly doing that and the project is is an active part of it.

>> Best wishes along the way.

Thank you for all of it and for life at my desk as well on this and all the other fronts in which that great work is being done.

Let's in fact once more a share with you all that you can find out more about the northeast Indiana Disability Advocacy Coalition on Facebook.

There it is.

You can stop on over leadership Fort Wayne dot com I believe before too much longer the class of 2025 might start coming together a little bit, right?

>> Yep.

Come and gather in January you can find out more of how members of your company or maybe you yourself might be interested in joining and then these are others who write down very quickly on that scratchpad next to your remote Indiana voters I and Gov.. That's a good one that keeps it all in the neighborhood and vote for one one dog.

It's not just about voting but who you're voting for .

Candidates profiles an and then again let your mouse and search engine be your guide to a number of these others.

Just entering certain keywords may well be the way to to bring that forward as well and get out and vote yes is the ultimate message right?

>> Absolutely.

Get that sticker accuses begin work.

Matthew Draycott is a steering committee member with the Northeast Indiana Disability Advocacy Coalition and we also had Heather Schillinger who is a Community Action Project member with leadership Fort Wayne .

>> I'm Bruce Haines.

We all thank you for watching.

Have a great night