New Voter Education Campaign Launched for People with Mental Health and Addiction Conditions

The campaign, entitled “Nothing About Us Without Our Vote,” includes the release of a Comprehensive Voter Guide for People with Lived Experience.

SILVER SPRINGS, MD, UNITED STATES, August 28, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- In conjunction with the anniversary of the March on Washington, the Supreme Court’s ruling on mail-in ballots, and the start of National Recovery Month, the POWER (People Organized for Wellness, Empowerment and Recovery) Coalition launched a new voter education campaign today for people with lived experience of mental health and/or addiction conditions.

The campaign, entitled “Nothing About Us Without Our Vote,” includes the release of a Comprehensive Voter Guide for People with Lived Experience. The guide includes information on voter registration, voting options, requirements for those with criminal justice histories, and more. This information is designed to provide guidance on how people with lived experience can participate in our democracy and use their votes to promote their recovery and protect their rights. The materials are the first ever specifically designed by and for people with lived experience of addictions and/or mental health conditions.

“We aim to make the voting process more accessible, understandable and relevant to our community,” stated POWER Coalition Steering Committee member Laura Van Tosh who led the guide’s development. “The voice of people with lived experience matters in our democracy.”

The POWER Coalition will deploy the materials through its affiliated networks across the nation to mobilize the over 60 million Americans who identify as being in recovery from behavioral health conditions to register and vote. They can be used in concert with REV-UP – a national nonpartisan campaign by the American Association of People with Disabilities aimed at empowering the disability community to register, educate, vote, and use their power.

The campaign is being launched at a time with midterm elections approaching and when the federal administration has cut critical programs that support recovery including Medicaid, housing, nutrition, and has proposed the elimination of key federal agencies including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). At the same time, the administration and a number of states are increasing the use of failed mental health and addiction policies of the past including criminalization, mass long-term institutionalization and involuntary treatment. Many of these regressive efforts are targeting vulnerable groups including Black Americans, other people of color, and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, and being advanced by think tanks funded by billionaires.

“We are looking to unleash a massive and largely untapped voting bloc of people in recovery and our family members who are unhappy with the direction our country is heading,” noted former federal official and POWER Coalition Co-Chair Paolo del Vecchio. “We demand change that promotes freedom, community, recovery, wellness, and hope for the future.”
The campaign is launching on the 63rd anniversary of the historic 1963 March on Washington which this year is being commemorated with the theme “Defend the Vote.”

“The POWER Coalition supports the goals of the March on Washington 2026 to oppose voting restrictions, counter roll backs on diversity, equity and inclusion and fight for fair wages, affordable housing, and equal opportunity,” stated POWER Coalition Co-Chair and YOUTH MOVE National Executive Director Arc Telos Saint Amour.

The campaign also marks September as National Recovery Month that celebrates the power of recovery to improve individuals, youth and families and communities. As SAMHSA notes, recovery leads to people increasing their own empowerment, autonomy, social inclusion and community participation – all of which are linked to voting.
“Casting one’s ballot is an affirmation of recovery – of people having a voice and choice in their lives, “ stated Van Tosh. “We hope our efforts will spark a record turnout among people in recovery during the midterms and beyond.”
The campaign is particularly important in the wake of this week’s Supreme Court decision granting Trump’s plan to restrict mail-in voting to continue with implementation while a lower court deliberates its legality. The POWER Coalition calls on individuals and organizations to share these materials widely to protect voting rights.
The POWER Coalition is a national network led by people with lived experience of mental health and addiction conditions to protect rights and promote recovery. Find out more about our work at: www.supportrecovery.us
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Contact:
Arc Telos Saint Amour (they/them): telos@youthmovenational.org
Paolo del Vecchio (he/him): pdv1820@gmail.com

Our mission is to strengthen holistic health, rights protection and wellbeing in the United States for people experiencing mental health and/or addiction conditions and their communities (families, neighborhoods, etc.), through national advocacy and activism, and system and policy reform. supportrecovery.us

Paolo del Vecchio
The Power Coalition
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