#CripTheVote Chat - Midterms 2018: What’s At Stake
October 7, 2018
4 pm Pacific, 5 pm Mountain, 6 pm Central, 7 pm Eastern
The 2018 Midterm Elections are just about a month away. In this chat, we will take a look at what is at stake for the disability community this year.
Background Links
“In recent elections, about 60% of the voting eligible population votes during presidential election years, and about 40% votes during midterm elections.” -- Voter Turnout, FairVote.com https://www.fairvote.org/voter_turnout#voter_turnout_101
Ballotpedia’s Election Analysis Hub, 2018 https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Election_Analysis_Hub,_2018
FiveThirtyEight.com 2018 House Forecast https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/house/
FiveThirtyEight.com 2018 Senate Forecast https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2018-midterm-election-forecast/senate/
How to Participate
Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility. When it’s time for the chat, search #CripTheVote on Twitter for the series of live tweets under the ‘Latest’ tab for the full conversation.
If you don’t use Twitter, you can follow along in real time here: http://twubs.com/CripTheVote
If you might be overwhelmed by the amount of tweets and only want to see the chat’s questions so you can respond to them, check @DisVisibility’s account. The questions will be Tweeted 5-6 minutes apart.
Another way to participate in the chat is to use this app that allows you to pause the chat if the Tweets are coming at you too fast: http://www.tchat.io/
Here’s an article about how to participate in a Twitter chat: https://www.adweek.com/digital/how-to-join-a-twitter-hashtag-chat/
Check out this captioned ASL explanation of how to participate in a chat by @behearddc https://www.facebook.com/HEARDDC/videos/1181213075257528/
Introductory Tweets and Chat Questions
Welcome to the #CripTheVote chat on what’s at stake in the 2018 Midterm Elections. We look forward to finding out what’s important to you, and exploring different possible futures in a post-Midterms world.
Remember to use the #CripTheVote hashtag when you tweet. If you respond to a question such as Q1, your tweet should follow this format: “A1 [your message] #CripTheVote”
Q1: Sooooooo, it’s been some week. Before we start talking about the midterms, how are you doing since yesterday’s confirmation of Kavanaugh? How are you processing everything and taking care of yourself? #CripTheVote
Q2: How much have you followed and / or participated in past midterm elections? #CripTheVote
Q2: How much have you followed and / or participated in past midterm elections? #CripTheVote
Q3: Why do you think voter participation tends to be lower in midterm elections? Have you been more, or less active this year? #CripTheVote
Q4: Name three disability-related issues that are at the top of your mind right now. #CripTheVote
Q5: What are some disability issues in your state and local area that could be affected by the outcome of #Midterms2018? #CripTheVote
Q6: What specific, pressing disability issues nationally “hang in the balance” based on what happens in the Midterm Elections? #CripTheVote
Q7: How do you think disability policy and activism would change if the House and / or the Senate flipped from Republican to Democratic control? #CripTheVote
Q8: What will happen in the next two years or so if control in the House and Senate stay basically the same after #Midterms2018? #CripTheVote
Q9: What can we do to better inform candidates and disabled voters of what’s at stake in the 2018 Midterm Election? #CripTheVote
This concludes our #CripTheVote chat on Midterm Elections! Join us 10/21/18 for our next chat on voter mobilization w/ guest hosts @Sblahov & @SarahFunes: http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/p/upcoming-cripthevote-events_12.html
Keep the conversation going! A recap of this #CripTheVote chat will be up shortly. Check out our blog for the latest: http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/
