What accommodations or assistance can I get to ensure voting is accessible for me?
- You may ask for accommodations:
- In getting into the polling place,
- During sign-in and waiting
- In the voting booth (punching or marking the ballot)
- In verifying and casting the ballot
- Assistance in the Voting booth. As a voter with a disability, you may ask anyone you want to help you in the voting booth. The only restrictions are the person cannot be your employer or an officer in a union that you are a member.
- The person can be under 18
- They don't have to be a citizen
- They can speak any language (they don't have to speak English)
- If you have asked for assistance during the voting process, you are required to sign an affidavit stating you are a person with a disability.
- The person who assists you is not allowed to try and influence you to vote a certain way.
- Help in the voting booth will be given simultaneously by two election judges-one Democrat and one Republican.
- Polling Place Access/curb-side voting. Polling places should be accessible to you without help, but many are not. If you cannot enter a polling place due to the structural features of the building (stairs, steep ramp, narrow doorways, no working lift, etc.) you may request to vote outside near the entrance of the polling place-it's called "curbside voting."
- Election authorities prefer that you call ahead on the day before the election to request curbside voting.
- They will ask you for the approximate time you would like to vote, so they can have election judges ready to assist you.
- Two election judges will bring the application, affidavit to request help and portable ballot out to you, give you any assistance you request, verify the ballot inside (letting you know if you under or over-voted), give you a chance to vote again, if you wish and then deposit the ballot in its envelope in the ballot box inside the polling place.
- Other requests. You may make other requests for reasonable accommodations to assist you in voting, such as a chair to sit in while waiting (one will also be provided for voting), moving ahead in line due to fatigue or anxiety, having written information read out loud to you, or having information explained in simpler language.
