Voting Laws Protecting People With Disabilities
People with disabilities have every right to participate in the democratic process if they are eligible to vote. However, biases or logistical issues may interfere with this right. Recognizing these risks, several federal laws protect people with disabilities throughout the election process. For example, the Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits policies, practices, and procedures that prevent people with disabilities from registering to vote or casting a ballot. The ADA also requires adjustments to policies, practices, and procedures when failing to make adjustments would essentially equate to disability discrimination. (If a certain adjustment would fundamentally alter the nature of the voting program, election authorities do not need to make that adjustment.) When a voter is required to provide identification, the range of acceptable forms of identification must include some forms that can be used by people with disabilities.
The ADA additionally requires that election officials provide communication with people with disabilities that is as effective as communication with other voters. This involves implementing auxiliary aids and services during registration and voting. Election officials do not need to implement a certain auxiliary aid or service if this would fundamentally alter the process or would impose an undue burden. In that case, they must provide an alternative aid or service for effective communication if an alternative is available.
Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, authorities conducting federal elections must have an accessible voting system. This must offer the same opportunity for access and participation that is available to voters without disabilities. The ADA further provides that election authorities overseeing any public election must ensure that any accessible voting system is properly maintained and functional, and that officials have received proper training in using it.
Voter Registration for People With Disabilities
A provision in the ADA prevents states from disqualifying people who have intellectual or mental disabilities from registering to vote (or voting) based on their disability if they otherwise would be eligible. Meanwhile, the ADA broadly requires that voter registration must be accessible to people with disabilities. More specific rules arise from the National Voter Registration Act, enacted in 1993. This law imposes requirements on offices that provide public assistance or state-funded programs that primarily serve people with disabilities.
Under the NVRA, these offices must assist people with disabilities in registering to vote by providing registration forms, helping them fill out the forms, and then sending the completed forms to election authorities. If an office provides a certain amount of assistance with completing its own forms, it must provide the same amount of assistance with completing voter registration forms. When an office provides services to people with disabilities at home, it also must provide voter registration services at home.
Accessibility of Polling Places
When election authorities decide which buildings may be used as temporary polling places, they must consider accessibility for people with disabilities. The ADA regulations and the ADA Standards for Accessible Design provide these requirements. The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice has issued an ADA checklist for polling places that can guide election officials. The ADA checklist provides that the parking area and passenger drop-off area, exterior and interior routes, the entrance to the polling place, and the voting area must be accessible to people with disabilities.
If a polling place is not already accessible to people with disabilities, officials may be able to provide temporary solutions. In rare situations, though, election officials cannot find a building that will serve as an accessible polling place and cannot modify a building for that purpose. When this happens, they can devise an alternative method of voting that provides an equally effective opportunity to cast a ballot. This might involve curbside voting outside the polling place or in a car. Curbside voting must meet several requirements:
- Signs informing a voter about this option, where curbside voting will be held, and how to tell election officials that they are curbside
- A location where the voter can get information from candidates and others who are campaigning outside the polling place
- A method for a voter to announce their arrival at the curbside
- A prompt response from election officials
- Timely delivery of the same information provided to voters inside the building
- A portable voting system that the voter can use to cast a ballot privately and independently
People working at elections should be instructed before Election Day or the start of an early voting period on the voting rights of people with disabilities and how to handle situations involving them. Local disability rights organizations often provide these trainings.
