NYC Introduces Voter Guides In American Sign Language

From the Office of the Mayor of New York City:

October 3, 2019

Over 200,000 New Yorkers who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing can now access video clips on candidates running for office for the upcoming and future elections

NEW YORK—For the first time, DemocracyNYC, the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), and the Campaign Finance Board introduced today Voter Guides in American Sign Language (ASL). These new guides will lessen the barriers that people who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing face while trying to exercise their right to vote. This initiative seeks to make all elections fairer and more accessible for all New York City residents.

“A strong democracy requires an engaged constituency,” said Mayor de Blasio. “We want all New Yorkers to stand up, get involved and vote for the issues they care about most. The new voter guides in American Sign Language will allow more people to do just that.”

“Voting should be the easiest thing for all New Yorkers,” said Nisha Agarwal, a Senior Advisor on DemocracyNYC. “But often, for people with disabilities, there are barriers that prevent them from exercising the right to vote. For that reason, I am thrilled to work with MOPD and CFB and many advocates in the disability community to introduce American Sign Language Voter Guides. For the first time, people who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing can view the guides in their language on candidates and ballot measures so that everyone, including people with disabilities, can speak loudly with pride and be heard.”

“Voting and participating in the political process is a civil right. All New Yorkers—including individuals who are Deaf—should have candidate information in their native language,” said Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities Commissioner Victor Calise. “MOPD was happy to work with DemocracyNYC and the Campaign Finance Board to add American Sign Language interpretation to the Video Voter Guides and we look forward to continuing to make voting and civic engagement accessible to New Yorkers with disabilities.”

Currently, in New York City there are over 200,000 people who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing, facing challenges in their ability to exercise the right to vote. DemocracyNYC and MOPD learned about these challenges, including wrong information or lack of information about registration deadlines, assigned polling sites and who is running for elections.

To address these barriers, DemocracyNYC and MOPD partnered with the NYC Campaign Finance Board, an independent city agency that focuses on elections, to design and pilot a series of ASL Voter Guides. These new voter guides, which have closed captioning, but from now on will also include picture-in-picture ASL interpretation for all candidates video statements, a series of two-minute clips that offer voters comprehensive information about local candidates and ballot proposals.

These new ASL guides will be available immediately, before voter registration on October 11th, for people who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing to find out about candidates and ballot measures and register.

Also, for the first time Early Voting will be available in New York City, which enables voters to have nine days – from October 26th to November 3th – to vote, in addition to the Election Day on November 5th. While the limited early voting sites provided by the Board of Elections – 61 early voting sites for more than 5 million voters in New York City – DemocracyNYC, the Mayor’s Office on People with Disability, and the Campaign Finance Board will provide voting information in ASL language.

DemocracyNYC and the Mayor’s Office for People with Disability received a grant from The New York Community Trust to fund four Independent Living Centers – Bronx Independent Living Services (BILS), Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled (BCID), the Center for Independence of the Disabled (CIDNY), and Harlem Independent Living Center (HILC) – on voting and civic engagement on a range of issues like ASL, Ballot Marking Devises, and voter registration.

“Voting is a fundamental right and with major changes being made, such as early voting, it important now more than ever that all people be provided with accurate information. Creating video voter guides in American Sign Language is an important step towards making our electoral process more equitable for people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing,” said Assemblyman David I. Weprin. “I thank the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities Commissioner Victor Calise and Chief Democracy Officer Ayirini Fonseca-Sabune for working to expand voting access to all New Yorkers.”

“ASL Voter Guides will help maximize civic engagement among people who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing and make our elections more accessible overall. As Chair of the City Council’s Committee on Mental Health, Disabilities, and Addiction, I thank the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, Democracy NYC, and Campaign Finance Board for launching this much-needed initiative,” said Council Member Diana Ayala.

“This is a major step to ensure that people with disabilities have full access to their right to vote and participate actively in our democracy. The collaboration among the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabiities, DemocracyNYC and the Campaign Finance Board to create voter guides in American Sign Language is something we can all be proud of. No one’s right to vote should be impeded by a disability and we have taken a long overdue step to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in civic life,” said Council Member Fernando Cabrera.

"These voter guides will ensure that the deaf and hard of hearing have access to the data they need to make informed decisions when casting their ballots," said Council Member Daniel Dromm. “Robust voter participation is key to a healthy democracy, and these guides bring us closer to achieving that goal. I thank DemocracyNYC, MOPD and the Campaign Finance Board for helping New Yorkers living with disabilities exercise their right to vote.”

“Democracy works best when everyone can participate and everyone is informed,” said Council Member Ben Kallos."By providing the Voter Guides in American Sign Language, this initiative will improve access to the over 200,000 people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in New York City and are eligible to vote. Thank you to DemocracyNYC and the Mayor's Office of People with Disabilities as well as the NYC Campaign Finance Board for making this possible.”

“Voting is a right – and all New Yorkers should expect to cast our ballots with minimal hassle and the most accurate and up-to-date information. I commend the Mayor's Office and the Campaign Finance Board for their inaugural release of voter guides in American Sign Language,” said Council Member Keith Powers.

“The Harlem Independent Living Center is proud to be a part of this historic initiative in working with the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities and DemocracyNYC in reaching out to the members of the Deaf community. Not everyone understands the importance of voting - what to do, where to go - and this guide in ASL is a step in the right direction for the community,” said Christina Curry, Executive Director, Harlem Independent Living Center.

“New Yorkers with disabilities are being denied their right to participate in democracy. Every time a Ballot Marking Device is unavailable or a polling place is inaccessible, it sends the message to disabled people that their votes don’t count,” said Rachel Pardoe, New York Community Trust Program Officer. “We’re proud to be the lead funder of this work to help more than 300,000 eligible New Yorkers with disabilities cast their vote and participate in local community boards.”

“Increasing access to essential voter information, particularly for underrepresented communities like Deaf and hard of hearing New Yorkers, is a core part of our mission at the Campaign Finance Board," said Eric Friedman, the Assistant Executive Director for Public Affairs for the NYC Campaign Finance Board & NYC Votes. “We're thankful to the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities and Democracy NYC for working with us to implement these American Sign Language interpretations so all New Yorkers are empowered to cast a ballot that counts.”

"Equality in voting is so very important to all people with disabilities. We are happy to see a good visual representation of an ASL interpreter accurately interpreting the Mayor's message and making the Voter Guide accessible to people who are Deaf. This is a good model for all City videos that address public issues," said Susan M. Dooha, Executive Director, Center for Independence of the Disabled, NY.

For more information, go to Voting.NYC and click on “Where to Vote” to find out your early voting and Election Day poll sites.

This press release was produced by the Office of the Mayor of New York City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.