A Business Case For Talking About Invisible Barriers 2024 Voters Face

No, talking about election deadlines and voter registration at work won’t hurt your career or make your colleagues feel cringey. In fact, it’s good business to remind people of when and where to vote, provide links to government offices and disseminate information that can help disabled and neurodivergent colleagues and caregivers. This is not taboo-and it’s not charity. It’s civic engagement.

This past week was Disability Voting Rights Week, which may not have hit your radar. I want it to, which is why I’m writing this piece on a Friday afternoon, like any good ADHD-er would. I want you to know this! If you’re not disabled, at some point, you probably will be. There’s also a 30% chance that you will become a caregiver. What that means, in short, is that accommodations are everybody’s business. Connecting disability to ourselves, to our roles in the workplace and to our businesses at large is often a struggle. People like me, who have learning differences or experienced chronic illness, often feel alienated from other employees. Often we don’t talk about our challenges—or successes—at work.

Elections and other civic events are opportunities to connect and educate colleagues on disability and accessibility in a way that is actionable and interesting. Unlike inclusion trainings or DEI events, which either get a bad rap or sound incredibly boring, helping people to vote is actionable—even meaningful and often exciting.

Helping Movers and Other Young Talent

“I’ve lived in several places since college. I recently moved from Arizona to Los Angeles. Each state’s voting laws are different, and I don’t feel educated at all. My being autistic makes me really stressed about doing things exactly right. I start planning out how to do my taxes for next year as soon as I finish this year. That’s just how I am. I would welcome some help,” says Jacob Lewis, a photographer and videographer.

To be clear, everyone’s brain is wired differently. The world is neurodiverse. Similar to biodiversity, variety of thought and work style has proven benefits. A voter registration drive—even a series of half-hour team meetings across different teams at a company—allows people to voice how they manage the different stressors of their lives. Listening to employees in these settings is remarkably rewarding. A favorite Instagram post I found in my feed about voter registration reminders reads, Best day of my life as an employee here? HR reminding me of voter registration deadlines in our state. Love that.

Information Is An Investment in Community

It’s true, voting initiatives don’t just happen on their own. They require manpower and resources. And time is running short. So how do you make the case to your employer or leadership that talking about questions regarding everything from registration to curbside voting is important? It’s simple. “The more knowledge we put out there, the more empowered we all are,” says Kristin Britton, a subject matter expert in state and disability policy who lives in Massachusetts.

When businesses help reduce barriers to engagement, people and places thrive, 2024 research shows. “Forming and maintaining an ecosystem of relationships among…community stakeholders, creates the opportunity for businesses to become thought leaders in their communities, create bonds among employees…and increase the morale of the business,” according to The Business Guide to Civic Engagement published by The Policy Circle.

Elections Are Business Opportunities

Combined with 2022 voting surveys that show 14% of voters with disabilities had difficulty voting in 2022, this data indicates a total of 2.2 million voters experience problems of some type, according to a Rutgers analysis. Elections are opportunities to fill that gap and “to meet with the community and build relationships with local legislators and state offices,” said Denise D. Resnik, founder and president/CEO of First Place Global Leadership Institute, which champions ideas to engage adults with autism and intellectual/developmental disabilities in issues important to them. Resnik’s views align with a landmark study that shows how the success of large and small businesses depends in part on how they are linked to the economies and communities they serve and how helpful their actions are in engaging consumers.

Educating Voters Creates Positive Relationships

The business case for educating voters on how to take part in elections is strong. “There is absolutely a nonpolitical way to approach voting in any setting, and it is our civic duty to help others to vote independently and privately,” says Marlene Sallo, executive director of the National Disability Rights Coalition. If you want to engage disabled workers and caregivers, you might talk about one a key piece of legislation, the Accessible Voting Act of 2024, which would establish the Office of Accessibility within the Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Among other duties, the office would serve as the advocate on behalf of voters with access needs. Sallo adds, “It is everyone’s right to vote and to be able to do so without barriers.” Coming from Cuba and being disabled, she adds, “this is a personal passion of mine.”

More disabled people did vote in the 2020 elections than in earlier years, but there is still a gap. You can build trust with employees who need accommodations by asking them to review the resources you are offering to the company. They will likely have plenty of details to add. “Issues with a voting table being too low for a wheelchair or poll workers not understanding that a person is allowed to have help inside a voting booth, for instance, may come up,” says Sallo. “These are things most people wouldn’t think about.” And hopefully, they spark interest in making sure the right accommodations are available in workplaces.

Creating Successful Voting Reminders

Go the distance and get local information sources. Because laws vary from state to state, hybrid employees will be thankful if you recognize this and offer a variety of dates and resources, not just those where your business is headquartered. For starters, these are non-partisan voting-related websites that serve both disabled and non-disabled voters:

• VoteRiders helps employees find voter ID laws by state.
• When We All Vote gives upcoming state deadlines for voter registration and holds educational events.
• Rock the Vote website is a resource for requesting an absentee ballot.
• The Arc, helps disseminate a downloadable plain-language voter guide that is available for free to businesses and individuals.

Supporting A Culture of Inclusion

In a Culture 500 study of large, mostly U.S. based companies, lack of flexibility, disrespected or not accommodated were shown to impact a corporations ability to retain workers, prevent burnout and be engaged at work. We don’t disclose because we don’t feel valued, many studies show.

Accommodations—at work or at the voting booth—can help clarify and simplify processes. “We should be explaining voter accommodations for the sake of our employees and those who are also parents and caregivers and grandparents, too,” says Resnik. “Everyone benefits when we practice conscious leadership and do more to serve others.”

Resnik’s son, Matt, who is 33 years old, inspired her to create events and an outreach program that serve potential adult autistic voters and those with I/DD, their caregivers and families. The initiative, Vote the Spectrum, which launched in 2023, partners with local disability organizations, voter advocacy groups and political leaders legislators “to bring voting processes to life in a fun, inquisitive engaging way,” says Resnik. They recently held a successful non-partisan mock election, including local legislators, to build confidence among these groups.

It’s A Win-Win

Only in the last decade have disability rights taken center stage at work, as businesses have realized that they already employ many caregivers, people with chronic illness and talent who are neurodivergent. From lived experience, I know that not only are we working among you, but every time you take the time to learn about our lived experience and ask about the issues on our mind, you earn our trust. Engaging in issues around accessible voting, therefore, can be a win-win. If you feel short on time or worried about getting the language right, connect with a local disability organization, your local government and partner to use their existing materials. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, you just have to get it moving.