Voters with disabilities have options at the polls. Here's what you need

A new report estimates there are more than 40 million eligible voters with disabilities; yet turnout rates among this voting bloc continue to be lower than in the wider population. Changes in the law have helped to reduce these gaps, but experts say challenges still remain.

The Minnesota Disability Law Center, which is part of Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, works to survey polling places here in the state. The center also runs workshops to inform people with disabilities of their rights when it comes to voting.

These include:

parking for people with disabilities;
accessible entrances and signage;
voter assist machines;
curbside voting; and
getting help from a family member, friend or election judges at the polls.

Chad Wilson from the center shared more on what you need to know if you may need accommodations ahead of or on Election Day.

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The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity. To hear the interview, click on the audio player above.

Your organization carried out a survey of voting places back in 2022 and published a report on the findings. What stood out to you at that time?

For the most part, the results were pretty good but there are a lot of issues as far as accessibility with the voting process. For example, we found a number of locations that didn’t have necessary disability parking spaces as required under the law or didn’t have necessary eight-foot access aisles to allow people with mobility devices to be able to get in and out of those accessible locations.

Then we asked some specific questions about ballot-marking-assistant machines, and many election officials did not seem quite confident about what they would do if those machines weren’t working.

There are many kinds of accommodations people have access to and it starts with the right to bring someone with you. How does that work?

Yes, in Minnesota people with disabilities — if they need help from somebody else — can bring a friend or a family member or someone they know. That can be having somebody help them get to the polling place, maybe wait in line with them, all the way to when they’re in the voting booth. They can have that person come in there and assist them.

The only restriction there is that somebody from someone’s union can’t go in there with them. But beyond that, even if they don’t have those people with them, people with disabilities also have the right to ask for election judges to help them when they’re in the booth.

To assure that there is security with that process and the person with the disability is making their selection, that requires election officials from two different political parties to oversee this process.

There are also voter-assist machines at polling places. Are they at every polling place? How do they work?

Yes, in a federal election, all voting locations throughout the state are required to have a voter-assist machines. To use those machines, folks first have to register and then ask for their ballot. Then, people are given those ballots and they put them into this voter-assist machine.

The voter-assist machine has a number of different features to allow for accessibility. For example, it can be higher contrast, larger prints or there can even be settings where it’s read aloud to the individual via headphones so they can privately hear what’s on their ballots.

There can be touch-screen access or physical remote access to select who they want to vote for in the process. And there's even a sip and puff device for people with physical disabilities, where they inhale or exhale to finalize their selections.

Minnesota also made it possible to vote from home recently. Is that different from the no-excuse absentee ballot method?

Yes, this method of voting is more of an in-depth process. To engage in that process, the individual needs to first request an absentee ballot and then contact their local election officials and let them know that they, due to a disability, need an accommodation to have an electronic method of receiving their ballots. They are sent electronic information on how they can fill out and mail in the ballot from home that way.

You can still vote curbside as well?

Correct. Curbside voting is an option for folks who maybe can’t get safely into the voting location. So, it would be a process of having an election official bring out the registration materials, if needed, and bring out the ballot so the person can vote without going specifically into the location.

That process, similarly, has election judges of two different parties oversee this to make sure that they’re fairly carrying out this process.

What can voters do if they run into any issues with accessibility or they have a complaint, especially if they show up on Election Day and they’re unable to vote?

The first step would be to contact that head election official at that given site. And then if they can’t work it out, then I would suggest people ask to connect with the city or county election official to let them know what the issue is and see if other things can be done.

If that doesn’t fix the issue, then people can submit complaints to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office regarding accessibility. Our office also has a helpline people can call where we can help them deal with those issues as well, as necessary.

Correction (Oct. 30, 2024): An earlier version of this story misrepresented how ballots can be returned for people who request an accommodation. According to Minnesota law, a voter receiving a ballot electronically for an accommodation must print and return the voter's voted ballot and the certificate of voter eligibility to the county auditor in a sealed envelope. The story has been updated.

Voters with disabilities have options, including curbside and assisted voting

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