Voters With Disabilities Challenged During COVID-19

"All polling locations are required to have accommodations that allow voters to vote independently and privately,” said Bridgett King, an expert in political participation and an associate professor at Auburn University in Alabama.

But a study three years ago found that of 137 polling sites inspected, most had voting stations that could impede private voting. For instance, at stations not designed for wheelchairs, some voters would have to ask for help, thereby potentially allowing others to see how they were voting, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

Voting in the general election proved easier for Carcione, who used an electronic mail-in ballot that she printed out at a United Parcel Service office, since she doesn't have a printer.

An issue of trust

The dramatic increase in mail-in ballots — catalyzed by worries about COVID-19 — would seem ideal for voters with disabilities.

But some people have to ask for help filling out their ballots and may not be able to verify that it was marked and mailed as they wanted, said Michelle Bishop, voter access and engagement manager at the National Disability Rights Network, a coalition of the nation's largest providers of legal advocacy services for those with disabilities.

"No one should have to make that leap of faith when they're voting,” she said.

Sarah Trites has already cast an absentee ballot in the Nov. 3 election, unhampered by her wheelchair and poor vision.

The 54-year-old resident of Sabattus, Maine, regularly turns to her mother, who lives nearby, to help fill out her ballots. She trusts her mother to record her votes accurately, she said: “She and I are definitely on the same wavelength."

Trites cast her first vote for president in 1984 and has voted in every presidential election since, and in countless other elections, too.

"I'm passionate about voting,” said Trites, who is active in local political and disability groups. Other Maine voters with disabilities share that zeal, with more than 65 percent of them voting in November 2018, the highest share of any state, researchers found.

West Virginia came in last in 2018, with less than 38 percent of its eligible voters with disabilities casting ballots. It also has the highest rate of disability — nearly 25 percent — of any state.

The state is largely rural, with winding roads, which can discourage all voters, said Regina Desmond, senior advocate at Disability Rights of West Virginia.

Her group scored a major victory with the February 2020 signing of a bill allowing state voters with physical disabilities to vote using electronic absentee ballots.

The first in the state to try the technology was Terra Muncy, 56, of Belle, who has rheumatoid arthritis and has used a wheelchair for 18 years. Voting in person, she sometimes found low ballot stations that worked well, she said.

"But sometimes there wasn't one, which means I was having to reach up, and people can see over your head exactly what you're doing,” she said.

During the spring primary election, Muncy was able to cast her ballot using the Democracy Live electronic system on her tablet while sitting on her front porch.

She recently used the same system for the general election, this time via her phone from her kitchen, since it was too cold outside, she said.

To vote in person, some voters with disabilities may have to take buses or subways, another challenge. Transit to polling places may be particularly taxing for Black and Latino voters with disabilities who may not have access to private or public transportation, said King at Auburn University.

Voting curbside

Doll was undeterred by his blackout and hospital stay. He returned to the Summit County Board of Elections in Akron when he recovered, this time to vote from the comfort of his car.

The board had curbside voting available at the time Doll first tried to vote, but it has expanded the parking sites, added signs about the service and ordered still more signs, said Lance Reed, the board's director.

Doll commended the board staff for bringing a ballot to his car and helping him fill it out, because his hands shook badly, a symptom of Parkinson's. Yet even if he can vote electronically from home, he said, he would still want to go vote curbside.

"I'm old school,” he said of going to a polling place in person. “This makes you feel more normal, rather than handicapped.”

When he finished voting, the staff took the ballot inside to process, he said. “Then they came out and gave me an ‘I voted’ sticker."