Jenna Bainbridge, Yvette Nicole Brown, Lizzy Caplan, Abbi Jacobson, Jenifer Lewis, Steve Way And Others Celebrate Voting Assistance as a Form of Caregiving
LOS ANGELES — Celebrities are shining a light on the millions of older adults, disabled people and caregivers who face systemic barriers to voting.
In partnership with Caring Across Generations — a national organization changing the way the country values caregiving across the lifespan — celebrities and influencers are urging fans to make voting more accessible for people who need help casting their ballot.
With less than three weeks until Election Day, Caring Across has launched its #WeCareWeVote social media campaign with a video starring Jenna Bainbridge, Yvette Nicole Brown, Lizzy Caplan, Abbi Jacobson, Sarah Jones, Jenifer Lewis, Richard Lui, Ai-jen Poo and Steve Way. The video is running on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, X and YouTube.
More than 40 percent of people across the U.S. provide unpaid care to an aging family member or disabled loved one. Strict voter ID laws, limited early voting options, inaccessible polling places, and lack of support for parents and other caregivers can prevent millions of eligible voters from casting their ballots. One in five disabled voters either needed assistance or had difficulty voting in 2022 — three times the rate of people without disabilities. Lack of accessible transportation and limited availability of family, friends or direct care workers that family caregivers, disabled people and older adults depend on, can also make voting particularly challenging.
“Navigating life in the U.S. as a family caregiver or disabled or older adult is tough enough — exercising your fundamental right to vote shouldn’t be so hard,” said Ai-jen Poo, executive director of Caring Across and president of National Domestic Workers Alliance who also participated in the campaign. “We want to recognize and support the hundreds of millions of family and community members who time and time again fill in gaps left by our country’s patchwork care system.”
Ways to help family caregivers, disabled and aging adults get out their vote include providing rides to the polls for people with limited mobility or transportation access; temporarily filling in for someone with care duties so they can vote; assisting people with fine motor skill or visibility challenges in filling out ballots; and helping loved ones obtain ballots in their preferred language.
“We all need a little help sometimes, including to vote,” said Emmy-nominated actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who cares for her dad, Omar. “All eligible voters deserve to have their voices heard, regardless of where they live, how they identify politically, or if they need accommodations.”
Check your voter registration, locate your polling place, and make a voting plan for yourself and those who matter to you at http://www.caringacross.org/WeCareWeVote.