Has any research been conducted on the voting habits of disabled American voters?
I don’t know if this is an indicator of the loyalty of disabled voters but the ADA is under pretty consistent attack by the right wing talk machine.
That will depend a lot on how you define disabled. At its broadest, it would include everyone from the 18-year-old wheelchair user who has had cerebral palsy since birth to the 30-something veteran who lost an eye to the elderly person who qualifies for some disability benefits due to age-related conditions. So: what do you mean by disabled?
They have a Democratic tilt. I’m trying to find the stats.
From here. Pdf.
The percentage of disabled voters voting is going up. Other than 2004, it looks like they have a Democratic tilt, at least in the presidential races.
50 to 44? Was the poll conducted before the election , which would explain the six percent who were undecided? At any rate Obama won by a fairly comfortable margin in 2008 and this may mean that the disabled vote is generally similar to the general vote.
Given the wide spectrum of humanity that falls under the moniker of ‘disabled’, I would tend to agree. I would think it would mirror that of the public at large.
BTW, what I was defining as “disabled”-Anyone with a visible impediment to a “normal life”. (wheelchair, regardless of circumstances, sensory impairment, cognitive impairment)
Those figures actually suggest that disabled voters were less likely than the general public to vote for Obama, since he won the popular vote by a slightly higher percentage (52.9 to 45.7).
ETA: I doubt anyone has conducted a study based on your personal definition of “disabled”, etv. The ADA defines disability as:
Look, are disabled voters ever numerous enough to swing an election?
My personal definition jives with the gov’t definition. Mine isn’t as “wonky” I guess.
According to the US Bureau of the Census, as of 2004 there were ~32 million disabled adults in the US, making them the third-largest minority (behind Hispanics and African Americans).
One could argue that the disabled are more diverse than other minorities, making them somewhat more difficult to target as a demo. I don’t know, just a guess as to why such a large group isn’t as prominent as other groups on the political radar.
ETA: The report jsgoddess links to seems to imply the disabled vote less than the general population–although in 2008 their numbers were comparable. This may be another reason they aren’t courted by the political process as much as other minorities.
It’s generally more difficult for disabled people to exercise their vote, depending of course on the severity of the disability. That probably contributes to a lower overall turnout. Plus, as was pointed out, they tend to be a pretty diverse group.
My disabled sister-in-law is pretty conservative. She gets it from her Fox News-watching parents. Her other four siblings including my wife are fairly liberal. It’s kind of ironic, because it’s people like her who have the most to gain from health care reform and the most to lose from medicare cuts.