Now here's something you truly don't see every day: a candidate for public office doing something beneficial for Democrats and Republicans.

James Woods, a Democrat running in Congressional District 5, hosted a party over the weekend to get local political candidates' campaign materials reproduced in braille, for blind and other sight-impaired voters.

See also:

-Q&A: James Woods, Blind, Atheist Congressional Candidate





Woods, who's blind, cited a "huge communication gap" between the elected and citizens with disabilities, so he organized the event, getting volunteers familiar with the braille machine to help reproduce the materials.

"Basic improvements like adding alternative formats for information and platforms would engage more constituents in the election process," Woods says in a statement.

Woods' spokeswoman says candidates and organizers of campaigns in both major parties were at the event, which was held out in Chandler.

Woods, who we've written about before, is undoubtedly an interesting candidate, although he faces an uphill battle as far as his electoral hopes are concerned -- the seat he's campaigning for is currently held by Republican Congressman Matt Salmon, and Republicans have a healthy majority over Democrats in that district.

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