DISABILITY VOTING RIGHTS WEEK
2024
BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
A PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, on July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which codified protections against discrimination for people with disabilities, required employers to begin providing reasonable accommodations, and established accessibility requirements in public places; and
WHEREAS, there are over 67 million Americans with disabilities living in communities throughout the United States and over 2.46 million people with disabilities who reside in North Carolina; and
WHEREAS, the disability community has a critical interest in policies and decisions made and enacted at local, state, and national levels that directly impact the lives of people who have disabilities; and
WHEREAS, ensuring voting access to people with disabilities is essential to ensuring policy decisions meet the real needs of people with disabilities in our communities; and
WHEREAS, voting is an effective way for the disability community to influence decision makers and the policies that impact the disability community; and
WHEREAS, making voting accessible for residents of all abilities by ensuring fully accessible polling places, accessible voting machines, expanding mail-in and absentee voting options, among other considerations, is vital to protecting the voting rights of all North Carolinians; and
WHEREAS, the State of North Carolina supports the growing involvement of the disability community and commends groups dedicated to advancing disability rights across our state;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim September 9 – 13, 2024, as “DISABILITY VOTING RIGHTS WEEK” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.
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Roy Cooper
Governor
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this tenth day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.