Several laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Help America Vote Act, protect the right to vote and require that polling places be accessible to persons with disabilities.
That includes providing accessible parking, routes and entrances into the building. Locations should also have a universal voting console that allows people with low vision or blindness to vote privately and independently.
Voters also have a right to choose who helps them if they need assistance voting, according to the Community Legal Aid Society.
53 volunteers with CLASI will be monitoring polling places for accessibility as Delaware’s Protection and Advocacy system. They monitored the 2022 elections and released a report that found widespread ADA accessibility violations throughout the first state.
Many of those violations have since been addressed, according to CLASI’s voting rights advocate Joann Kingsley.
Kingsley said accommodations for persons with disabilities haven’t always existed, and CLASI is doing its best to raise awareness.
“There's a lot of assistance out there, and in Delaware, I am personally available as the voting rights advocate to voters with disabilities who encounter problems,” Kingsley said. “Bottom line is, don't leave without voting. Please reach out for help before losing that so-important right to vote.”
Kingsley said the main message is to persist, and to reach out for assistance if needed. She added that she can’t imagine anything more important than making everyone’s voices heard.
“In Delaware, one in four adults has a disability. We're talking about 25% of the adult population. That's a lot of people,” Kingsley said. “They're actually the largest minority block of voters in the country, not just in Delaware, and their voices are sidelined.”
She said people working polling places will be able to respond the quickest, but the Department of Elections and a number of hotlines, including the ASL voter hotline, are also available to help.
Voters can reach out to the ASL Voter Hotline by the National Association of the Deaf, the Election Protection Hotline and CLASI’s Disabilities Law Program – where Kingsley works – for assistance. More information on each organization including methods of contact can be found at each of the organizations’ websites.
