GAO to Monitor Disabled Voter Access | ||
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Dateline: 11/04/00
At the request of U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and John McCain (R-AZ), the General Accounting Office will monitor approximately 100 polling places on Election Day 2000 to determine the proportion of polling places that provide people with disabilities access to both polling places and polling methods.
"The right to vote is arguably the most fundamental right in America," Sen. Harkin stated in a Nov. 3rd press release. "Yet, for far too many of the millions of Americans with disabilities, this right is hollow because local polling places voting ballots are not accessible to them. The GAO investigation is an important first step in determining how to address this problem."
This will mark the first
time since the 1984 passage of the
Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (VAA) that access
to polling places for person's with disabilities will be officially observed.
According the Senators Harkin and McCain, the GAO is to answer basic questions as
they conduct their study on November 7 across the country, such as:
In elections since the VAA took effect, disabled voters have reported
encountering steps instead of ramps, ballots they
could not read, and numerous other barriers to full participation in the
voting process. Recent studies suggest that 40-60% of polling places in
those states remain inaccessible to the disabled. In his article, Are
You Going to Vote, About Guide to Disabilities Issues Gary Presley
estimates the number of people with disabilities eligible to vote at between 10
and 20 percent and offers the following suggestions for voters experiencing
accessibility problems: (Also see: Are
You Going to Vote, by Gary Presley to read position statements on
disabilities issues by presidential candidates, George
W. Bush, Al
Gore and Ralph
Nader.)
