[IL-Talk] Fwd: Associated Press: Voters with disabilities often overlooked in voting battles

Mon Apr 3 18:17:55 UTC 2023

Thanks a lot for passing this along. I forwarded it to the wizard program
director so that they can put it on there and read it. It's a good read.

Robert Hansen
hansen.robert70 at gmail.com

On Mon, Apr 3, 2023, 1:00 PM Mary lou Grunwald via IL-Talk <
il-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> Thanks so much for forwarding us this article.. It allows the General
> public to become better acquainted with a serious issue that we face. The
> encounters presented really represent experiences that we can have on a
> regular basis.
> Thanks, denise
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On 3 Apr 2023, at 11:13 AM, Denise Avant via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> >> From: "Danielsen, Chris" <CDanielsen at nfb.org>
> >> Date: April 3, 2023 at 10:23:58 AM CDT
> >> To: "President, National Federation of the Blind" <
> OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org>, Communications Team <
> communicationsteam at nfb.org>, "Blake, Lou Ann" <LBlake at nfb.org>, "Kaloc,
> Jeff" <JKaloc at nfb.org>, "Chang, Patti" <PChang at nfb.org>, "Avant, Denise" <
> davant1958 at gmail.com>
> >> Cc: "Hill, Eve" <EHill at browngold.com>
> >> Subject: Associated Press: Voters with disabilities often overlooked in
> voting battles
> >>
> >> 
> >>
> https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/voters-disabilities-overlooked-voting-battles-98299877
> >> Voters with disabilities often overlooked in voting battles
> >>
> >> Advocates for the disabled say access for voters with disabilities
> remains a challenge at polling places throughout the United States
> >> ByAYANNA ALEXANDER Associated Press
> >> WASHINGTON -- Patti Chang walked into her polling place in Chicago
> earlier this year, anxious about how poll workers would treat her,
> especially as a voter who is blind. Even though she was accompanied by her
> husband, she said she was ignored until a poll worker grabbed her cane and
> pulled her toward a voting booth.
> >>
> >> Like many voters with disabilities, Chang faces barriers at the polls
> most voters never even consider — missing ramps or door knobs, for example.
> The lack of help or empathy from some poll workers just adds to the burden
> for people with disabilities.
> >>
> >> “It doesn’t help you want to be in there if you’re going to encounter
> those kinds of low expectations,” said Chang, 59. “So why should I go vote
> if I’m going to have to fight with the poll workers? I’m an adult and I
> should be able to vote without that.”
> >>
> >> Chang had a better experience when she cast an early ballot in March in
> the runoff election for Chicago mayor, a race that will be decided Tuesday,
> even as access to the ballot box remains a challenge across the city for
> voters like her.
> >>
> >> Chicago is among numerous voting jurisdictions across the United States
> with poor access to polling locations for disabled voters. Since 2016, the
> Department of Justice has entered into more than three dozen settlements or
> agreements to force better access in cities and counties under the
> Americans with Disabilities Act. Many of those places are holding elections
> this year.
> >>
> >> The department's targets are almost certainly an undercount of the
> number of places with poor access, according to disability rights activists
> who attempt to track ADA compliance and complaints from voters.
> >>
> >> Several, including Chicago, either missed their deadlines without
> making all the requested changes or asked for an extension.
> >>
> >> Chicago’s agreement with the federal government started in 2017 but has
> been extended twice; the current deadline is November 2024, the next
> presidential election. As of February, the city had 302 polling places that
> complied fully with the ADA and 327 with low accessibility or none at all
> for disabled voters.
> >>
> >> The expense of bringing aging buildings up to code is one challenge in
> complying, said Max Bever, a spokesperson for the city’s board of
> elections. Some polling places could be forced to close.
> >>
> >> “Things can be identified and surveyed, we can know the status of
> certain buildings — but actually making and funding the appropriate changes
> can be a long and difficult process,” he said.
> >>
> >> People with disabilities make up about one-fourth of the U.S. adult
> population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
> They have
> >> been ensnared in battles over access to the polls as many
> Republican-led states have passed restrictive voting laws in recent years,
> including over limits
> >> on what assistance a voter can receive and whether someone else can
> return a voter’s mailed ballot.
> >> In Wisconsin, disability rights activists scored a victory when they
> filed a legal challenge in federal court after the state Supreme Court,
> with a conservative majority,
> >> ruled that only the voter can return an absentee ballot. The federal
> court said that ran afoul of the Voting Rights Act. Nevertheless, voters
> with disabilities
> >> have been complaining that the federal law is being ignored in the
> run-up to Wisconsin's high-stakes election Tuesday, when control of the
> state’s high
> >> court could flip.
> >> They say local election officials throughout Wisconsin have been giving
> incorrect information on websites, in mailings and at polling places saying
> voters
> >> can’t receive help or have someone else return their ballot — without
> making the distinction that such assistance is allowed for voters with
> disabilities.
> >> Disability must be considered a fundamental right to enhance
> accessibility throughout the country, said Herbert Humphrey, the ADA
> coordinator for Jackson,
> >> Mississippi.
> >> “Typically, when you hear civil rights, you think about race. But no,
> civil rights includes the disability community, as well,” he said.
> >> Disjointed coordination between election authorities and disability
> advocates has been a persistent problem in Mississippi, especially related
> to reliable transportation. It was the reason Lee Cole, who is blind,
> missed a local election in Jackson in January.
> >>
> >> That frustrated Cole, 74, because she said she tries to vote in every
> election.
> >>
> >> “I live in senior housing now and we can't always vote because we can’t
> get to the site, and that's unfortunate,” she said.
> >>
> >> Mississippi’s local and state officials haven’t been receptive or
> collaborative, said Greta Kemp Martin, litigation director for Disability
> Rights Mississippi.
> >>
> >> Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin said the group met with
> Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson to discuss accessibility
> issues statewide. But Martin said Watson seemed uninterested, except when
> asking if the group had reached out to the election commission.
> >>
> >> “His attorneys were helpful, but we received no follow-up from them
> about the issues that we outlined,” Martin said.
> >>
> >> Watson's office said in a statement that it has communicated its
> efforts to the organization to best assist voters with disabilities in
> Mississippi and welcomes further dialogue for future elections.
> >>
> >> “Ensuring ADA compliance in localized polling places lies with each
> county, and the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office does not have
> enforcement authority,” the statement said. “Whether the designated polling
> places are county-owned or privately-owned, the counties are responsible
> for ensuring the polling places they have selected are ADA compliant.”
> >>
> >> After conducting routine polling place surveys, Disability Rights
> Mississippi sent letters in 2021 to state election commissioners and
> Watson's office about access problems in two small towns, but said it did
> not receive a response. The letters said the group had found “egregious
> violations of the ADA.”
> >>
> >> Local election offices are often burdened with a lengthy list of
> responsibilities, such as ensuring that equipment works properly and
> defending against cyberattacks. Because of that workload, disability right
> advocates say they try to reach out and help ensure that polling places are
> accessible, said Michelle Bishop, the voter access and engagement manager
> at the National Disability Rights Network.
> >>
> >> “This is a significant investment and I know that elections officials
> are typically under-resourced to do a multitude of things,” she said.
> >>
> >> The COVID-19 pandemic also shifted focus from ADA compliance as
> election offices had to ensure polling places were safe and had to mail and
> process a flood of mailed ballots, Bishop said.
> >>
> >> Poll worker training is a priority, especially to make sure workers and
> volunteers are sensitive to the needs of disabled voters, said Denise
> Avant, first vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of
> Illinois. The group offered to make a presentation during a poll worker
> class following last year’s midterm elections, but the Chicago Board of
> Elections declined, she said.
> >>
> >> The board did let the federation assist in testing voting machines for
> compliance and to provide guidance on how precinct workers could interact
> with voters who are blind or have low vision. It expects to work with the
> organization in the future now that in-person training has returned.
> >>
> >> Such training is needed to help poll workers gain a better
> understanding of how to best help voters with disabilities, said Kelly
> Knoop, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky, and has cerebral palsy. She uses
> a machine for those who may not be able to communicate with their own
> voices.
> >>
> >> Knoop's older sister, Karen Heil, also helps her communicate and said
> workers at their local precinct still seem unfamiliar with their lone
> accessible voting machine. Jefferson County, home to Louisville, entered
> into an ADA agreement with the Justice Department in 2022.
> >>
> >> “I sadly just have to say there are so many Americans that are looked
> upon as not being full citizens and not being worthy of all the rights that
> we do have,” said Knopp, 56. "We just need our lives to be as important as
> many other minorities.”
> >>
> >> ___
> >>
> >> Associated Press coverage of race and voting receives support from the
> Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all
> content.
> >>
> >> Christopher S. Danielsen, J.D.
> >> Director of Public Relations
> >> 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
> >> (410) 659-9314, Ext. 2330 | cdanielsen at nfb.org
> >> Twitter: @rlawyer
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and
> friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every
> day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want.
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
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