Voting a Right, Even for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities

Sept. 28, 2012 - PRLog -- CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Extraordinary Ventures, a local non-profit organization that provides employment for people with developmental disabilities, will host a voter registration drive on October 4.  The event will be held at 200 South Elliott Road from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and will be open to the public.  Organizers hope to increase political awareness within the wider developmental disability community regarding the right of all citizens to vote.

Extraordinary Ventures helps people with Autism and other developmental disabilities to integrate with the community through vocational and recreational programs.  Encouraging this community to vote and providing education about the impact of politics is a natural extension of this mission.

"We hope this will be an educational event, teaching the community how to register, how to vote, and how important it is that they vote," says Extraordinary Ventures' Communications Director, Van Hatchell.

The voter registration drive will seek not just to register voters, but to make sure people affected by developmental disabilities know about their right to vote and the powerful impact of that right.

According to local attorney and Extraordinary Ventures committee member Daniel Hatley, "Many parents of children with developmental disabilities have no idea that their child has the right to vote despite their disability. They may simply need more assistance in exercising this right."

Although former President Bill Clinton mentioned Downs syndrome and Autism in his recent speech to the Democratic National Convention, developmental disabilities receive relatively little attention in the political arena.  The board and staff of Extraordinary Ventures hope that this can change and aim to foster that change the same way they always have: by making sure people are included and informed.

Extraordinary Ventures, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization founded in 2007 to develop businesses and social programs that employ individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities.  EV does not endorse any particular candidate or political party. To learn more, visit http://www.extraordinaryventures.org