Sunday, September 22, 2019

10/13/19 Twitter Chat: Voting and Caucus Accessibility


Graphic with a white background and text: "#CripTheVote Twitter Chat, October 13, 2019, Voting and Caucus Accessibility, 4 pm Pacific, 5 pm Mountain, 6 pm Central, 7 pm Eastern, Co-host: Disability Rights Iowa @D_R_Iowa" on the left is a black bird icon for Twitter, on the right is an illustration of hands raised in the air in black and gray.

#CripTheVote Chat

Voting and Caucus Accessibility

October 13, 2019
4 pm Pacific, 5 pm Mountain, 6 pm Central, 7 pm Eastern

Join the co-partners of #CripTheVote, Andrew Pulrang, Gregg Beratan, and Alice Wong in a Twitter chat with guest host Disability Rights Iowa about voting and caucus accessibility. We’ll look ahead at the 2020 Presidential election and the access issues facing people with disabilities when voting and participating in caucuses. Please note: the conversation will not focus solely on Iowa, all are welcome.

Additional Links







Resources for Voters with Disabilities, U.S. Election Assistance Commission

Voting, National Disability Rights Network

How to Participate


Follow @GreggBeratan @AndrewPulrang @DisVisibility and @D_R_Iowa. 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 is a link for people who are new to Twitter on starting an account and how to use it: https://help.twitter.com/en/new-user-faq

Here’s an article about how to participate in a Twitter chat: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/how-to-participate-in-a-twitter-chat/546805/

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 voting and caucus accessibility with guest host  @D_R_Iowa. 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: How accessible is voting for you as a person with a disability? Please share any recent and past experiences and what worked or didn’t work for you. #CripTheVote

Q2: With #Election2020 coming up, what are your concerns in your local community and state on voter access for people with disabilities? Feel free to share any resources or orgs that have helpful information #CripTheVote

Q3 Beyond access issues, what are some other systemic barriers to voter participation that the disability community faces, especially for multiply marginalized disabled people? #CripTheVote

A caucus is a political party gathering in which party members choose candidates for an election. While caucuses are less common than primary elections, some states, such as Iowa, still conduct caucuses as part of the presidential nominating process.  https://ballotpedia.org/Caucus

Q4 What is your understanding of caucuses and how they work? If you live in a state which holds a caucus, are there any major issues you’ve observed with them? #CripTheVote

Q5: Critics of caucuses say they are undemocratic and inaccessible for many people, including people with disabilities. What are some ways they can become more inclusive and accessible for all? #CaucusAccess #CripTheVote

One attempt to increase #CaucusAccess is to allow people to participate by phone which was rejected by the Democratic National Committee in Nevada & Iowa this past August #CripTheVote https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dnc-recommends-rejecting-iowa-and-nevada-virtual-caucus-over-security-concerns_n_5d697161e4b01108044ead80 

Iowa Democrats are now planning satellite caucuses at various locations such as nursing homes and college campuses #CaucusAccess #CripTheVote https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2019/09/20/dnc-approves-iowa-caucuses-satellite-location-plan-2020-democrats-democratic-party/2387347001/

Q6: How do concerns about #ElectionSecurity intersect with voter access & inclusion? #CripTheVote

Q7: How can we advocate for both secure and accessible ways to participate in caucuses and voting next year and in future elections? #CripTheVote

Q8: Is there anything you’d like to ask our co-host @D_R_Iowa about their #CaucusAccess advocacy, voting rights, & the significance of Iowa in #Election2020? #CripTheVote

This concludes our #CripTheVote chat on voting and caucus accessibility. Many thanks to our co-host @D_R_Iowa and please keep the conversation going! A recap of this chat will be up shortly. For more: http://cripthevote.blogspot.com/

Monday, September 16, 2019

#CripTheVote Stats ... Wow

To get a clearer sense of the size and volume of #CripTheVote activity on peak days, we have started collecting tweet data during debate live tweets and scheduled chats. We are using a service called Keyhole. So if you are into numbers and statistics, read ahead!

Note:

“Tweets” includes the number of original tweets, retweets, and replies.
“Users” is the number of people who participated over the measured span of time.
“Engagement” is the number of times people either retweeted or replied to tweets.



This Timeline graph shows #CripTheVote tweet volumes over the course of September 12, 2019, the day of the Third Democratic Presidential Primary Debate. It shows two major spikes in activity during the course of the 3 hour debate ... an early spike above 600 tweets, followed by a moderate drop-off, and a second spike over 1,000 tweets. followed by a drop off at and after the end of the debate.

And are some charts covering the last three debate live tweets. Since the first two debates were two nights, we came up with daily tweet averages for comparison with the single night Third Debate.

Tweets

First Debate: 1,569 per day average
Second Debate: 2,761 per day average
Third Debate: 2,996

Users

First Debate: 575 per day average
Second Debate: 1,196 per day average
Third Debate: 1,123

Engagement

First Debate: 1,618 per day average
Second Debate: 11,915 per day average
Third Debate: 10,691

Tweet Impressions

First Debate: 7,507,804 per day average
Second Debate: 13,029,603 per day average
Third Debate: 16,351,225

We will keep collecting data from upcoming live tweets and chats. Check back here at the #CripTheVote Blog.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Live Tweet: Third Democratic Debate - September 12, 2019

#CripTheVote Live Tweet - Democratic Primary Debate - September 12, 2019

Join #CripTheVote in live tweeting the next Democratic Presidential Debate, Thursday, September 12, 2019 from 8 PM to 11 PM Eastern, on ABC and Univision, with hosts:

Jorge Ramos
@jorgeramosnews

George Stephanopoulos
@GStephanopoulos

David Muir
@DavidMuir

Linsey Davis
@LinseyDavis

Also, help us suggest disability questions and topics by using this online form from the American Association of People with Disabilities @AAPD:

Click here to submit questions

Deadline to submit questions is Monday, September 9, 2019.