2006 To Be Watershed Year for Voters with Disabilities

The 2004 presidential election saw a number of improvements in voting access for people with disabilities as a result of new federal legislation and the activities of many advocates, including Equip for Equality. Equip for Equality activities included training of election judges, training of individuals with disabilities on their rights (including a fact sheet on voting rights LINK), conducting election-day polling-place accessibility surveys, implementing voter registration, hosting an election day helpline and continued participation in committees advising voting authorities regarding accessibility issues.

This year promises to be the most exciting year ever for voters with disabilities. This is because, by January 1, 2006, the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requires that every polling place in the country must have at least one "voting system" that is accessible to voters with disabilities, including blind and visually impaired voters. A voting system includes the voting machine and the process of voting with it. 2006 will mark the first time that blind voters will have what most other voters have always taken for granted: a secret ballot! The Department of Justice has also agreed with advocates such as Equip for Equality that a voting system is not accessible unless there is access to it – meaning, among other things, that every polling place should be accessible to those with mobility impairments.

Equip for Equality has been hard at work to ensure that the promises of HAVA come to fruition. For months, the hot topic has been voting machines, and Equip for Equality has been a prominent voice for voters with disabilities. Congress appropriated billions of dollars for a buy-out of punch-card machines (remember the hanging chads of 2000?) and to assist states in complying with the 2006 accessible voting system mandate. In anticipation of spending this money, voting authorities throughout the country issued requests for proposals (RFPs) from vendors. And vendors have been everywhere, touting their wares to disability groups, election officials and anyone else with influence over sales. Read the Full Article...

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