Click here to learn About Disabilities, laws, controversies, support and more. GAO to Monitor Disabled Voter Access

Disabled voters still finding obstacles at the polls, say Senators.

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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:

• How many polling places and ballots in the United States are inaccessible to people with disabilities and what is the nature of this inaccessibility?
  
  
• Which states have standards to determine whether polling places and ballots or other polling methods are accessible to people with disabilities?
  
  
• How do chief election officers ensure compliance with such standards? Are there inspections?
  
  
• How many states fail to meet the standards in the 1984 federal law?

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:

• Call your county clerk. Ask about the absentee voting procedure.
• Call the local headquarters of one of the political party. Tell them you want to vote, but you can't reach the polls.
• Call the local office of the League of Women Voters.
• Call a local center for independent living.

(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.)

 

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