Category: Politics

Election Day 2024 is fast approaching in the United States. Voting is everyone’s right, including voters with disabilities. Voter accessibility laws and accommodations ensure that all registered voters have the same opportunity to cast their ballot. To prepare for Election Day, explore our guide to voting with a disability, including registration deadlines, voting options and accessibility accommodations.

Laws and Protections for Voters With a Disability

Federal laws protect the rights of voters with a disability to ensure everyone can vote, including:

• Voting Rights Act of 1965: This act states that any voter who needs assistance to vote can receive help from a person of their choice. The few exceptions include an employer or union representative — they cannot assist you with your vote.
• Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984: This law requires polling places, registration and voting aids to be accessible.
• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990: This law prohibits discrimination based on disability in private and government sectors, including voting. Individuals with disabilities are entitled to the same opportunities and participation in their community.
• Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002: Under HAVA, every jurisdiction must have one accessible voting system at each polling place that offers privacy and independence for voters with disabilities.

These legal protections have had a positive impact on voting with a disability. A 2024 report from the United States Election Assistance Commission on accessible voting experiences revealed the following key impacts of HAVA:

• Increased turnout of voters with disabilities: The turnout of voters with disabilities has increased since 2002. In 2000, the number of voters with disabilities was 16.8% lower than voters without disabilities. In 2020, this figure decreased to 11.3%.
• Improvements in polling place accessibility: Since HAVA offers funding for accessible voting systems, poll worker training and polling place improvements, polls have become more accessible since 2002. Many polls offer various accessible voting equipment options as well as ramps and accessible parking spaces.
• More accessible voting options: Over the years, more states have adopted voting by mail, allowing voters with or without disabilities to exercise their right to vote without going to a poll in person.

How to Register to Vote

You can register to vote using one of these three options:

1. Online: In most states, you can register to vote and update your voter registration online. Each state has its own voter registration deadline — search for your state or territory to check your deadline.
2. By mail: You can download, print and mail in the National Mail Voter Registration form. Voters with disabilities can have someone help them fill out the form if needed. Mail-in registration is unavailable in Wyoming, North Dakota, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.
3. In person: You can register to vote at government offices, such as election offices, state motor vehicle offices and libraries. Voters with disabilities can bring someone to help them register to vote.

How to Vote in 2024 — Your Voting Options

Most states offer several ways to vote on or before Election Day. Choose the option available in your state that’s best for you:

• At the polls: You can vote at your local polling place and use an accessible voting machine to cast your ballot.
• Mail-in: Voting by mail delivers the ballot to you through mail, email or a secure portal. Use a computer, phone or other assistive technology to submit your completed ballot via the portal or mail. Voting by mail has accommodation options like alternative format, alternate signature requirements and an accessible remote ballot marking system.
• Absentee ballot: An absentee ballot allows you to vote by mail if your local polling place is inaccessible or voting from home is best for you. Absentee ballots can have the same accommodations as voting by mail.

Accessibility Accommodations for Voters With Disabilities

Voters with disabilities have the right to vote in an accessible polling place and in private without assistance. Voters can also ask for accommodations to make voting accessible, including:

• Voting assistance: Voters can bring someone to help them vote, as long as the person is not their union representative or employer. They can also ask for help from a poll worker trained to use the accessible voting machine.
• Service animal support: Voters with a service animal have the right to bring them to the polling place.
• Seating: The poll can provide a place to sit or wait in line while seated for voters who have difficulty standing.
• Alternative formats: You can request voting materials in an alternative format. For example, voters with visual impairment can request voting and election materials in large print or audio format.

It’s important to note that you cannot be refused the right to vote because an election worker believes your disability makes you unqualified to vote.

Accessibility accommodations also apply to the venue. Polling locations must have:

• Accessible voting booths: The voting booths must be accessible for voters who use a wheelchair.
• Wide entrances and doorways: All entrances and doorways in the building must be at least 32 inches wide.
• Accessible voting equipment: There must be at least one accessible voting device for voters with visual impairment.
• Stair handrails: Any staircases must have handrails.
• An elevator: If the voting area is on a different floor than the entrance, the polling place must have an elevator.
• Accessible parking places: The parking lot must have accessible parking spots.

If your polling place is not accessible for you, you may cast your vote at a more accessible location. Some states also offer curbside voting — a poll worker brings the voting materials to your car so you don’t need to go inside. Your local election officials can provide additional information about accessibility accommodations so you’re all set for Election Day.

Get Ready for Election Day With Enabling Devices

Since 1978, Enabling Devices has helped people with disabilities participate more fully in the world. We have a wide selection of assistive technology, including:

• Switch-adapted electronics to make electronics accessible via an external capability switch.
• Augmentative and Alternative Communicators (AAC) to enhance interactions and develop language and social skills.
• Sensory products to engage the senses for concentration and relaxation.

Shop our online store today or contact our team to learn more about our products.

With the 2020 elections less than a month away, Disability Scoop has reported that the number of eligible voters with disabilities has increased by 20 percent this year. One reason for the increase, which impacts voters of both parties, seems to be the uptick in mail-in voting which removes some voting accessibility issues.

On the other hand, Disability Scoop cited a recent audit by software accessibility company Deque Systems, which revealed that “43 states’ applications had some level of digital inaccessibility – making them challenging or impossible to complete by many people with disabilities.” This barrier is especially concerning for voters with blindness or low vision.

Voting accessibility isn’t a new concern for Americans with disabilities. In fact, 30 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed “activists and advocates say people with disabilities are still facing barriers exercising a fundamental right: the right to vote,” according to a U.S.A. Today article. Backing up that claim is a survey from the Government Accountability Office published in 2017 that looked at 178 voting polling places during early voting and on Election Day 2016, and “found that 60 percent (107) had one or more potential impediments. The most common were steep ramps located outside buildings, lack of signs indicating accessible paths, and poor parking or path surfaces.” This was an improvement from 2012, though, when approximately 73 percent of poll places had similar barriers.

Despite these ongoing issues, 2018 was a record year for voting among people with disabilities. A study from Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations reported that voting by people with disabilities was up by 8.5 percent in 2018 with 14.3 million voting in the November 2018 midterm elections.

“If people with disabilities voted at the same rate as people without disabilities who have the same demographic characteristics, there would be about 2.35 million more voters,” the study authors predicted.

So, what can be done to make voting easier for the 20 percent of American voters with disabilities? The American Civil Liberties Union offers these suggestions:

• States should automatically send mail-in ballots to all registered voters.
• States should ensure that election websites are fully accessible so individuals with disabilities can easily obtain all the information they require to create their voting plans.
• Voters with disabilities should be able to receive electronic ballots which can be marked with accessible equipment they have at home, then printed out and mailed in.
• Since voters with disabilities may have difficulty providing consistent signatures, signature matching requirements should be waived for these individuals.
• States that have requirements for witness signatures or notarized ballot envelopes should discontinue them. During a time when social distancing is strongly recommended, these requirements prevent unnecessary health risks.
• Election officials must be thoroughly trained on issues pertaining to accessible voting.
• We should all spread awareness about accessible voting options.

If you have questions about accessible voting, click here.

Is it our imagination or are people with disabilities receiving more attention from politicians this election season? From the Republican and Democratic conventions where both parties included speakers and performers with disabilities, to more muscular efforts to make voting accessible to individuals with disabilities, at long last, politicians and those working to get them elected are finally recognizing the power and size of this important group of voters. That’s not to say that the job is done. Far from it.

The Numbers

According to RespectAbility, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 2013, that works “to end stigmas and advance opportunities for people with disabilities … America has 56 million people with disabilities, comprising the largest minority group in America, and the only one that, due to an accident or illness, anyone can join at any time.” That’s powerful! In addition, says RespectAbility, “35.4 million people with disabilities will be eligible to vote in the November 2016 elections, representing close to one-sixth of the total electorate. That’s an increase of nearly 11 percent since 2008.”

Despite the prevalence of disability among eligible voters, statistics show that voters with disabilities have historically been less likely to vote. In a white paper she authored for the Presidential Commission on Election Administration in 2013,” Lisa Shur, J.D., Ph.D, found “that there would be 3.0 million more voters with disabilities if they voted at the same rate as otherwise-similar people without disabilities.” Obviously, the voices of too many Americans are not being heard.

The Issues

In order to educate voters about the positions of  presidential and down ballot candidates on issues of concern to people with disabilities and their friends and family members, RespectAbility has released 51 state voter guides. The guides explain candidates’ plans on a variety of issues affecting people with disabilities and their loved ones including “employment, stigma, education. criminal justice, independent living, sexual assault, housing, transportation and adaptive technology.”

Voting Accessibility

Although many states are taking steps to increase the likelihood that voters with disabilities can access their polling stations and voting booths without difficulty, they still face significant obstacles. According to a recent report by National Public Radio, during the 2012 presidential election, “almost a third of voters with disabilities reported having trouble casting their ballots — whether it was getting into the polling place, reading the ballot, or struggling with a machine.”

On the bright side, it appears that every four years, since 2002, when the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), was enacted, the situation has improved. HAVA requires “states to make polling places accessible ‘in a manner that provides the same opportunity to people with disabilities for access and participation’ as is provided to non-disabled voters,” writes Shur. “This includes accessible parking and paths of travel. Each polling place is also required to have at least one direct recording electronic voting system for people with disabilities.”

According to the NPR report, which focused on voting in the Washington D.C. area, the city “has acquired new voting machines that are adjustable to accommodate residents using wheelchairs. The machines also have instructions in Braille and attachments, like sip and puff tubes and control pads, to help voters cast their ballots.” Additionally, poll workers are now receiving training on how best to assist people with disabilities at the polling places.

To date, not all polls are equipped with these accommodations. To be apprised of your voting rights, visit U.S.A.gov. For additional information, check out these tips for voters with disabilities from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. To find out about accommodations in your area, visit U.S.A. Gov’s list of state and local election offices.  Most importantly—To change conditions for people with disabilities for the better, be sure to vote!