Nancy Ward is an original member of the Vote Team. She was an integral part of creating the Vote Project toolkit, is a Vote Project trainer, and helped form the National Technical Assistance Center for Voting and Cognitive Access. Nancy has been the Co-Director of the National TA Center since 2006.
When asked about how she got involved Nancy said, “As I was traveling around the country doing advocacy work I noticed that people with disabilities were not voting. I became concerned when they kept telling me that they didn’t know if they had the right to vote, someone told them that they weren’t smart enough to vote, or that their guardian told them that they couldn’t vote. This made me mad because I have exercised my right to vote since I turned 18. When I was young I voted the same as my parents. As I learned more about the voting process I decided to change my political party to one that better matched with my values. When my parents found out they told me that my grandfather would roll over in his grave if he knew that I changed parties. I don’t think that it’s right for anyone to tell people with disabilities how to vote. I decided that I wanted to help people with disabilities be informed voters so that they can make their own decisions. When my friend, Laurie Powers, asked me if I wanted to help write a grant to fund voter education for people with disabilities, I was excited. I finally had a way to help my friends exercise their rights as American Citizens.”