Bridges4Kids does not endorse candidates, but we post educational information regarding the positions various candidates have taken as it relates to education and children.

Election Day Hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE - The Disability Vote Project advises voters to call their local Board of Elections before Election Day to find the location of polling places and their accessibility features. Election Day is Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Vote Project notes that colleagues in the civil rights community have set up a toll-free Election Day hotline. This hotline is now staffed and, in addition to logging complaints, the civil rights organizations have law students and attorneys who can provide assistance on Election Day.

 
The American Association of Persons with Disabilities sent the candidates for President a questionnaire about disability issues in general. Read the questions and the candidates responses.

True Reform Calls For a Plan - America's greatest promise is its simplest: the opportunity for all of our children to fulfill their God-given potential. Nothing is more critical to that promise than education.

Bush Response to American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Questionnaire - The following response to AAPD's questionnaire is provided by the Bush-Cheney '04 Campaign. AAPD is non-partisan and shares information about candidates' disability-related policy positions for educational purposes.
 
Yes, the Education President - In the fall of 1995, Dr. Reid Lyon, who directs research in the neuroscience of reading and learning disorders in children at the National Institutes of Health, got an unexpected call from first-year Texas governor George W. Bush. [Source: EducationNews.org]

Bush Plans to Screen Whole U.S. Population for Mental Illness - A sweeping mental health initiative will be unveiled by President George W Bush in July. The plan promises to integrate mentally ill patients fully into the community by providing "services in the community, rather than institutions," according to a March 2004 progress report entitled New Freedom Initiative. While some praise the plan's goals, others say it protects the profits of drug companies at the expense of the public.

Kerry Campaign Names Becky Ogle as Senior Advisor of Disability Issues - On June 4, John Kerry for President announced Rebecca "Becky" Ogle as the senior advisor on disability issues. Ogle will be charged with advising the Kerry campaign on all issues related to disability and disability outreach. Ogle, a seasoned 15-year veteran of presidential campaigns and Democratic Conventions, has been a senior disability advisor to the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton-Gore Administration.

Bush FY 2006 Cuts Would Irk Educators - The Bush administration has told officials who oversee federal education, domestic security, veterans, and other programs to prepare preliminary 2006 budgets that would cut spending after the presidential election, according to White House documents.

Kerry Details Broad Goal of Boosting Achievement - John F. Kerry kicked off a three-day swing through western battleground states yesterday with a pledge to increase the number of high school graduates in the country over the next five years by a total of 1 million students. The presumptive Democratic nominee, due to campaign across New Mexico, California, and Arizona this week, said he would do so by establishing a trust to fully fund the Bush administration's education overhaul program, enlist college students to mentor middle-schoolers, provide funding for local communities if they try to break larger schools into smaller ones, and pay administrative costs to support states that would withhold driver's licenses to dropouts, reports Glen Johnson. All told, the program would cost $4.5 billion over 10 years. The money would be generated through Kerry's pledge to repeal recent tax cuts enacted for those making over $200,000 per year. Over five years, the number of high school dropouts would fall from about 1 million annually to about 800,000, a campaign aide said, producing 1 million more graduates. A high dropout rate is a major issue for Latinos, who make up 42 percent of New Mexico's population.

Election Day Hotline: 866-OUR-VOTE

from Monday Morning in Washington DC

The Disability Vote Project advises voters to call their local Board of Elections before Election Day to find the location of polling places and their accessibility features. Election Day is Tuesday, November 2, 2004. The Vote Project notes that colleagues in the civil rights community have set up a toll-free Election Day hotline. This hotline is now staffed and, in addition to logging complaints, the civil rights organizations have law students and attorneys who can provide assistance on Election Day. The hotline number is 866-OUR-VOTE, (866-687-8683).

· If poll workers refuse to allow you to vote for any reason, call 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

· If the polling place is inaccessible, call 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

· If there is a late opening or early closing of a polling place, call 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

· If your polling place runs out of ballots or has an incorrect ballot, call 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

· If you experience poll worker insensitivity or discrimination in the voting process, call 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

When you call the hotline, be prepared to give your name, telephone number, and note as many details as possible, including the names of the people who are involved.

Angela Katsakis, Disability Vote Project Coordinator, American Association of People With Disabilities (AAPD), 202-457-0046 x25, 202-457-0473 fax, 1629 K Street NW, Suite 503, Washington, DC 20006, Visit our website at www.aapd-dc.org or aapdvote@earthlink.net.