Editor’s note: A previously uploaded version of this episode included incorrect audio from an earlier episode about grief and loss.

A staggering amount of metro Detroit’s polling stations are not accessible for disabled people — 84%, according to a 2022 audit by Detroit Disability Power.

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Another, less visible, barrier to democratic participation is equitable access to information. Yet nearly half of Detroit households don’t have broadband access.

That picture only gets worse when you account for household income. 

Voting sites inaccessible 

There were four criteria Detroit Disability Power used in their audit to define accessibility at a polling location: 

1. An accessible parking area with a clear pathway into the building
2. A fully accessible voter assist terminal (VAT)
3. An accessible entrance into the building
4. An accessible booth for casting paper ballots privately

Dessa Cosma from Detroit Disability Power says that being able to vote in-person without barriers is a democratic issue, but the state of polling location accessibility now is not acceptable. 

“I can tell you as a disabled voter, it is frustrating and demoralizing and dehumanizing to go exercise my right to vote and realize that people weren’t prepared for me to show up,” Cosma said. “When they were thinking about who mattered and people they needed to set up their day for, I wasn’t on their list.”

Detroit Disability Power plans to conduct another audit of metro Detroit’s polling locations for the general election in November. 

Internet access 

Democratic acts such as voting, accessing a city hall website, attending virtual public meetings, or contacting representatives are all reliant on having internet access.  

Detroit is among the worst-connected cities in the nation, with nearly 40% of homes without a broadband connection. 

But access to broadband internet is only one of three pillars of digital equity, says Christopher Ali, telecommunications research at Penn State University. The other two pillars are affordability and skillset. 

“The internet is our window to the world right now. It’s how we get news and information […] it’s how we engage with the many of the governmental services we need to do on a daily basis. It’s how we book the COVID vaccine and apply for benefits and file our taxes,” Ali said.

Cosma and Ali both joined Created Equal on Wednesday to discuss equitable access to voting and information.

Guests:  

• Dessa Cosma is the executive director of Detroit Disability Power

• Christopher Ali is the Pioneers Chair in Telecommunications and professor of telecommunications in the Bellisario College at Penn State. Ali is the author of “Farm Fresh Broadband: Politics of Rural Connectivity.” 

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.

Following speeches from high-profile Democrats — including Barack and Michelle Obama and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz — enthusiasm for the Harris campaign has reached a fever pitch at the Democratic National Convention.

Still, the question remains whether that enthusiasm will lead undecided voters to choose Kamala Harris in November.

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Shikha Dalmia from the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism says the Democrats have taken the ideas of patriotism and freedom from Republicans.

“They’ve stolen the message of patriotism from Republicans,” said Dalmia. “But they’ve also stolen the message of freedom from Republicans, and giving a meaning to freedom that is inclusive in modern in a way that Republican conception of freedom doesn’t strike people us such.”

Not only have Democrats put patriotism back in their messaging, they’re also demonstrating something that Andrea Bitely, a political communications strategist, says the Democrats represent something that independent voters want: normalcy. 

“I think they’re making a case that they are the rational, normal party,” she said.

While normalcy and common sense have emerged as strengths of the Harris-Walz ticket, there is still a glaring gap in support from anti-war protestors from the progressive wing of the party represented by “uncommitted” delegates at the convention. 

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, co-chaired a forum at the DNC on Palestinian rights on Monday, but says the DNC is taking an unnecessary risk not allowing a Palestinian representative to speak.  

“It wouldn’t have hurt at all to invite a Palestinian American,” said Zogby. “Especially some of those who are very close to the Vice President, who she knows and respects, who she knows from when she was Attorney General. I never understand when campaigns make unforced errors and simply can’t recognize it.”

Now that the Democratic Party’s surrogates have given their endorsements rallying the base, all eyes are on Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech to close out the Democratic National Convention on Thursday.

Guests

• James Zogby is the president and co-founder of the Arab American Institute. He currently serves as chair of the DNC Ethnic Council and was appointed to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom by President Obama, serving from 2013-2017. 
• Shikha Dalmia is the president of the Institute for the Study of Modern Authoritarianism. She is also the editor-in-chief of the free Substack publication, “The UnPopulist.”  
• Andrea Bitely is the former spokesperson for former Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and is currently the political and communications strategist at Bitely Communications.  

Listen to Created Equal with host Stephen Henderson weekdays from 9-10 a.m. ET on 101.9 WDET and streaming on-demand.