Disability Rights Center, others help make voter registration accessible

The Elections System of the Virgin Islands is getting some assistance registering new voters ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.

This month, organizations to include the Disability Rights Center of the Virgin Islands, The League of Women Voters and the St. Croix Board of Realtors have held voter drives in conjunction with the Board of Elections. As of Wednesday, more than 400 new individuals have registered to vote.

Angus Drigo, DRCVI executive director, told The Daily News that his agency’s two-day voter drive, which was sponsored by the AARP and the Board of Elections, was an effort to assist those with disabilities become familiar with the voting machines and to help them register to vote in the November election and beyond.

“What I envisioned happening is we bring the experts from the Board of Elections to help us navigate the process of getting people out to vote — which would involve the voting machine demonstration and giving people the opportunity to register to vote if they had not already done so,” he said.

While anyone was welcomed to register, the focus was on those with disabilities, and Drigo said the AARP’s sponsorship of the events worked out well because of the “cross-relationships in terms of elderly folks with or without disabilities.”