Interviewer: How did you feel the first time
Interviewer: that you voted?
Man: Well, I felt kind of ignored,
Man: you know, out there in, out
Man: there in, out there in the
Man: community because if a person
Man: with a disability did, did have
Man: the right to do that, I thought
Man: that a person with a disability
Man: should be able to do it on their
Man: own and ind-, you know,
Man: independently. Because I know
Man: if I had the right to do it when
Man: I was about 18 years old and I
Man: was able enough to do it, I know
Man: that nobody in my family or
Man: anyone else was going to hold me
Man: back on doing it. So, I know I
Man: was strong enough to do it and
Man: knowledgeable enough to do it.
Man: So, I felt that I could do it.
Barbara Copins: My name is Barbara Copins and
Barbara Copins: from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Barbara Copins: And how I felt the first time I
Barbara Copins: went out and vote. Well, because
Barbara Copins: first of all, I got to learn who
Barbara Copins: were, you know, um, the politics,
Barbara Copins: you know. Who my legislators are,
Barbara Copins: and my senate, and my congress.
Barbara Copins: And it made me, made me feel
Barbara Copins: good of voting. Well, you gotta
Barbara Copins: make sure that you have the
Barbara Copins: right person in there that would
Barbara Copins: do s-, that would do the, um,
Barbara Copins: that you asked for and who would
Barbara Copins: be willing to work with people
Barbara Copins: with disabilities.
Jay Dashefsky: First, my name is Jay Dashefsky.
Jay Dashefsky: I am from Phoenix. First time I,
Jay Dashefsky: I voted, um, it actually was a
Jay Dashefsky: year, I believe it was a year
Jay Dashefsky: after I had first registered. Um,
Jay Dashefsky: I'm not gonna say which election
Jay Dashefsky: it was, you know. But, but, um,
Jay Dashefsky: I, I felt like this was like a
Jay Dashefsky: first experience for me and, and
Jay Dashefsky: it was, you know, as if I now
Jay Dashefsky: had it in my hands that I could,
Jay Dashefsky: I could, uh, help change in the
Jay Dashefsky: world, you know. Uh, help, help
Jay Dashefsky: with the effort of, of, like,
Jay Dashefsky: who's gonna be in the next
Jay Dashefsky: administration. Who's gonna be
Jay Dashefsky: the next this and that. And that
Jay Dashefsky: was really big for me. That was
Jay Dashefsky: huge. That was really powerful.
Jay Dashefsky: So, so I felt part of something
Jay Dashefsky: really good.
Gail: My name is Gail ,
Gail: and I am from Portland, Oregon.
Gail: And when I first started voting,
Gail: I was 21, the legal age. And I
Gail: was thrilled to that, to vote.
Gail: Then after I got older, I still
Gail: liked voting and I, when I lived
Gail: in a different apartment than I
Gail: live now, um, I would go over to
Gail: the voting place. And that was
Gail: very difficult to vote because
Gail: people weren't able to help you.
Gail: And now, what I do is I
Gail: have the ballot sent to me, and
Gail: then someone who works with me
Gail: can help me with the ballot. But
Gail: it's always my decision. And I
Gail: tell him what I want and what I
Gail: don't want. And, and I, I feel
Gail: like I am in control. And I like
Gail: it that way.
Samuel Jenkins: My name is Sa-, my name is
Samuel Jenkins: Samuel Jenkins. And I'm from
Samuel Jenkins: Elizabeth, New Jersey. And my,
Samuel Jenkins: and my, my first time I voted.
Samuel Jenkins: The first time I voted was back
Samuel Jenkins: in Paterson. Back, back in 1977
Samuel Jenkins: in Paterson, New Jersey, when I
Samuel Jenkins: was 18 years. When I was, um, um,
Samuel Jenkins: 18 years of age. And, um, it
Samuel Jenkins: was a, it was, it was a good, it
Samuel Jenkins: was a, a, a cra-, crazy
Samuel Jenkins: experience at first. And then I...
Samuel Jenkins: People show me how to use the
Samuel Jenkins: machines and everything. And I
Samuel Jenkins: never used a voting machine
Samuel Jenkins: prior to that. So, my first time,
Samuel Jenkins: it was, it was one of the, it
Samuel Jenkins: was a, it was an experience that
Samuel Jenkins: I would never forget.
Berry: My name Berry , and
Berry: I live Fort Worth, Texas. I vote
Berry: first time 2008. And I vote
Berry: president. And I vote, uh, Texas
Berry: . And I vote, uh,
Berry: Fort Worth mayor. I feel, you
Berry: know, feel good really.
Craig Hail: My name, my name is Craig Hail.
Craig Hail: And I am from Oklahoma City,
Craig Hail: Oklahoma. When I voted the first
Craig Hail: time, I voted down the street
Craig Hail: where I, I live. I have, I have
Craig Hail: a disabil-, disability. And one
Craig Hail: of my friends took me to vote
Craig Hail: because I do not drive. It was
Craig Hail: hard because I could, could not
Craig Hail: see the, the ballots. It was
Craig Hail: too small. They, they would not
Craig Hail: make it large where I could see
Craig Hail: it. It made me feel
Craig Hail: uncomfortable.
Ellen Perry: My name is Ellen Perry and I am
Ellen Perry: from North Carolina. The first
Ellen Perry: time I voted was when I was 18
Ellen Perry: years old. And it was pretty
Ellen Perry: unique because the ADA wasn't
Ellen Perry: there. Um, nothing...But, but it
Ellen Perry: was successful. I, I walked in,
Ellen Perry: voted, and did not have any
Ellen Perry: problems.
Varian: Uh...Oh, my name is Varian, and
Varian: I'm from Willimantic,
Varian: Connecticut. And the first time
Varian: I voted, I felt very proud '
Varian: cause I was voting for, um, some...
Varian: I, I was vo-...I felt very proud
Varian: that, you know, I, I got to the...
Varian: What do you call it? I got...My,
Varian: my voice got heard.
Katy Griffith: My name is Katy Griffith, and I
Katy Griffith: am from , Arizona. I
Katy Griffith: felt...The first time I voted, I
Katy Griffith: felt happy and I felt like I was
Katy Griffith: going to make a difference in
Katy Griffith: the, the world, and the state.
Katy Griffith: And felt like I was more
Katy Griffith: independent.
Laura: Hello. My name is Laura, and I'm
Laura: from Kansas City, Missouri. Um,
Laura: the first time I voted, well, uh,
Laura: I went to, uh, my local precinct.
Laura: And the woman asked if I could
Laura: read before she gave me the
Laura: ballot. And I was like, "Yes, of
Laura: course I can. I wouldn't be here
Laura: if I couldn't." And she, um,
Laura: she was like, "OK." Um, she was
Laura: like, "Can you sign your name to,
Laura: uh, for the voter role to ensure
Laura: I was the person who I was?" And
Laura: I said, "Sure." And then she was
Laura: like, "Can you fill it out?" I
Laura: was like, "Yes. I wouldn't be
Laura: here if I couldn't fill it out
Laura: either." So, I...You know, I
Laura: was just like, I was really
Laura: excited. 'Cause my first was
Laura: like in 2004. So, I
Laura: got to vote for whoever I chose
Laura: to vote for. And, um, yeah, but...
Laura: Other than that, I was so
Laura: excited. Other than that.
Robert Webb: My name is Robert Webb. I'm from
Robert Webb: Virgi-, from Virginia Beach,
Robert Webb: Virginia. It was kinda hard '
Robert Webb: cause I didn't understand the
Robert Webb: questions. 'Cause I couldn't
Robert Webb: understand. 'Cause I could not
Robert Webb: read and write very well. And
Robert Webb: some of the questions were very
Robert Webb: hard. And I had to
Robert Webb: really, I had to learn...I had
Robert Webb: to go home and study the thing.
Robert Webb: It was hard to study. I studied
Robert Webb: and learned to do what everybody
Robert Webb: else did. I had to learn it. And
Robert Webb: now that we have people first
Robert Webb: train do the thing and show them
Robert Webb: how to do on a, um, memo machine.
Robert Webb: And we learned how to do it that
Robert Webb: way. Our organization did. And
Robert Webb: that's it. That was easy to do
Robert Webb: that way. And that's, uh...That
Robert Webb: was hard. That was easy to do I
Robert Webb: that way. And you go in the poll.
Robert Webb: You'll be ready with ideas.
Robert: My name is Robert, and I'm from
Robert: Seattle. I felt, when I first
Robert: voted, scared. I didn't know the
Robert: issues. I didn't know where the
Robert: candidate stands on person with
Robert: disabilities and in, and senior
Robert: citizens. And so, I got involved
Robert: in voting because to make sure
Robert: people that understand we could,
Robert: our voice counts. And, and if,
Robert: if they don't have us, we don't
Robert: have the voice to say something.