EFE Starts Voting Project

In 2004: Statewide Survey of Polling Places, Election Judge Trainings and Recommendations for Improvements to State and Local Boards of Elections

On Illinois Primary Election Day, March 16, voters all over the state traveled to polling places to cast their ballots for president, senators and local offices. For most voters, the rainy weather was the only glitch in their contribution to the democratic process. For those with disabilities, however, the experience was much different.

"Joe," a man who uses a wheelchair, had to check ahead of time to determine whether his polling place was designated "accessible," which was confirmed. He traveled to the polling place only to find heavy doors, narrow doorways and stairs to the voting booth. To exercise his right to vote, Joe was compelled to abandon his wheelchair and be carried to a voting booth, which turned out to be too high and afforded him neither privacy nor comfort.

"Sarah," who is blind, voted as she always does - without privacy or independence. In 2004, nearly all voting machines remain inaccessible to the blind.

Joe and Sarah are among the millions of voters with disabilities in this country whose right to vote has been denied or infringed. Voters with developmental disabilities find their right to vote questioned, voters who are deaf face communication barriers, voters with dexterity impairments are unable to manipulate the equipment. Faced with such obstacles, many citizens with disabilities simply do not vote - the voting rate among adults with disabilities lags more than 10 points behind that of other voters. Absentee voting, often referred to as the ghetto for voters with disabilities, is perhaps the most frequently offered recourse.

Eliminating barriers to the voting process is the central focus of Equip for Equality's Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Voting Rights Project. In 2002, following the debacle that took place in Florida's 2000 election in which many persons, including those with disabilities, were denied the right to have their votes counted, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act. The law is primarily a funding statute. For people with disabilities, it is aimed at getting states and localities to comply with laws that have been in place for years, such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, not to mention the United States Constitution itself. One of HAVA's key requirements is that, by January 1, 2006, every polling place in the United States shall have at least one voting system (machine) that is accessible, including for the blind and visually impaired, which shall provide the same privacy and independence as is enjoyed by non-disabled voters.

HAVA authorizes states to use federal funds to improve voting accessibility and includes some funds dedicated exclusively to improving polling place accessibility. As part of the nation's Protection & Advocacy (P&A) System, Equip for Equality receives a portion of HAVA funds to address disability-related voting issues. For the first and second federal fiscal years, Equip for Equality received $160,643.

Equip for Equality's Voting Rights Project was launched last summer, when CEO Zena Naiditch accepted a seat on the Illinois State Planning Committee, the HAVA mandated group in charge of developing Illinois' implementation plan. Zena and Equip for Equality Senior Counsel Karen Ward co-chaired the HAVA Disability Task Force, a subcommittee that addressed the needs of voters with disabilities and recommended strategies to the Planning Committee. The Task Force issued a report of findings and recommendations to the Committee last year. In parallel with Task Force activities last year, Karen addressed both state and national conventions of election authorities on the requirements and importance of HAVA.

So far this year the Project has completed two major initiatives - training voters with disabilities and election judges on accessibility issues and surveying over 1,000 Illinois polling places for accessibility. Through its Training Institute on Disability Rights, Equip for Equality created a curriculum and trained approximately 4,000 new Chicago Election Judges on accessibility and sensitivity to voters with disabilities. Numerous polling places on election day showed the positive results of these trainings, and training materials have been shared with another voting authorities in the state. Plans are currently underway for Equip for Equality to train more than 10,000 Chicago elections judges -both new and returning- before the general election.

The Illinois Attorney General's Office and Equip for Equality partnered in conducting the Polling Place Accessibility Survey, which sent staff from both organizations to sites described as accessible by the Illinois State Board of Elections. Results of the survey show that, despite their purported accessibility, many polling places present significant barriers for voters with disabilities. Surveyors found, for instance, inaccessible entrances and interior spaces (steps, steep grade ramps, insufficient maneuvering space), heavy doors, no accessible parking and inadequate signage to accessible entrances and polling locations. More than one-third of purportedly accessible polling places had no accessible parking space either on the premises or within a block of the polling place.

Survey results also show trends in accessibility problems by type of polling place, fire stations ranking the least accessible and town halls ranking the most accessible, slightly better than even assisted living centers. The survey also found significant variances in accessibility between wards in Chicago. Ward one presented an average of nine obstacles out of 27 measured criteria per polling place, gaining position as the least accessible ward, while ward 23 averaged only 1.3 obstacles per location, ranking the most accessible in the survey.

Supported by these results, Equip for Equality will meet with the State Board of Elections, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, Cook County Clerk and other authorities to urge them to address these obstacles in time for the November election. For updates and further information, contact Karen at (800) 537-2632.

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