Advocates for Mentally Ill Clear Barrier to Vote in This Election

Price, Joyce Howard, The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

Thousands of Americans with mental illnesses are expected to vote in the Nov. 7 elections, many for the first time, as a result of aggressive voter registration and education efforts spearheaded by advocacy groups for the mentally ill.

"Our focus is to get out the vote. . . . Our purpose is to establish a mental illness voter bloc made up of people who care about mental illness and who vote every time," said Mike Fitzpatrick, regional director and coordinator of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill's "I Vote, I Count 2000" campaign.

Mr. Fitzpatrick and others involved in such initiatives stress they are "entirely nonpartisan."

"The two major candidates both have their pluses," he said of presidential nominees George W. Bush and Al Gore. …

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Publication information: Article title: Advocates for Mentally Ill Clear Barrier to Vote in This Election. Contributors: Price, Joyce Howard - Author. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: October 8, 2000. Page number: 3. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group.

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