Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL) . Our guest today is Todd Vaarwerk, Chief Policy Officer of WNYIL, and your host is yours truly Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program, Todd.

Guest:  Always good to be here.

Host:  And you're here because you are our expert on all things legal and political. And I believe we're going to tell our listeners about why it's important that they vote and how they do it.

Guest:  Well, it's always important to know that this is the time of year when voting is important, but we have some different items this year than with the show of last year, because we made some changes in the way voting is done in New York. So, let's first talk about why it's important to vote. Your vote actually matters, a lot of people that think it doesn't. But in actuality, it does. Your vote confirms your opinion about the people that are running to represent you. You pick the people that you choose to represent you and voting is ideally the way to do that. Now as an advocate, you know I can certainly see people's choice not to vote for various reasons, however, for people with disabilities, it is crucial that we get out to get the vote, because the voting numbers are the things that carry our issues, from increased access to housing, to increase access to employment, to health services that keep us in the community, all that stuff are political footballs, and the more they know that disabled people vote, the more seriously they take those issues.

Host:  Well that certainly sounds like a good reason to vote, and something I've heard you say in the past is that, like today's alderman is tomorrow's senator or something.

Guest:  Absolutely. Even though it's a local election year, state and federal officials aren't being elected in 2019, the local officials are the people that are going to be holding those positions in the future. Political careers start with local elections. So, now's the time when you vote for them and show interest in them so that they will remember you as they climb to higher and higher position.

Host:  And so that people will have an idea of what to prepare for although they could probably find out such things on the Board of Elections websites, what are some of the typical positions that people will find in their localities?

Guest:  Typical positions, for example in Erie County the County Legislature and the County Executive are being elected this year. Town councils pretty much almost everywhere. Some places elect coroners, those are actually on the ballot in Niagara County. So, any local position that would likely be elected, chances are you're voting for it this year.

Host:  Very good. I understand that there may be some new wrinkles in terms of early voting?

Guest:  Oh yes as early as October 23, you can go to a location in your county and cast a ballot. Erie County has a lot of locations and I'm not going to remember them all nor can I recite them in the five minutes that the show takes. So, I'm going to encourage people to go to the Erie County Board of Elections website, or to call us at the center, if they'd like to know where their closest early voting location is. Genesee and Niagara counties by way of example will each have two, well, they may be set yet. The public announcement of them hasn't been so I encourage you again, go to the website for your local Board of Elections and ask for the early voting location is. It'll be the same thing as you're going there on election day, except, hopefully you won't be as rushed in there and you know maybe the lines won't be as long, but that'll give you more time to use the accessible ballot marking device to help you cast your ballot, because each early voting locations going have one, and this is a great way to make sure that not only your ballot is recorded accurately, but that people see you voting, using a great piece of technology that anybody should be able to use.

Host:  Todd we're coming up hard on the end of the show how can people get more information, what's your number?

Guest:  As always, they can call me 716-836-0822 extension 101.

Host:  Thanks so much and hopefully all our listeners will take this to heart and get out and know that your vote does count, no matter what people say.

Guest:  Yeah absolutely go out and vote.

Host:  You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a Public Affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was Todd Vaarwerk, Chief Policy Officer of WNYIL and your host was yours truly, Ernie Churchwell.