Elections and the Disabled — I need to vent

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I volunteer as a County precinct worker. I am an Inspector. An Inspector is nominally in charge of a Precinct Board of from three to five Clerks. I have been working elections since 2006. That turns out to be fifteen elections, counting the March 3 California Presidential Primary.

[vent]

In the last election my precinct, and another, was relocated to a new medical facility. We were relocated because our former location, the recently remodelled City Hall, which was remodelled to be compliant with Americans With Disability Act (ADA), was not sufficiently ADA compliant according to California State Election regulations.

During the election we did not have a single voter needing ADA assistance. We did have ten or so voters arrive with walkers. And some of them asked if they could sit down while voting. We have a (non-ADA required) table and chair set up for that purpose.

I wrote up an after action report to the Elections Department. Here is the pertinent snippet:

It’s astounding how much money, time and effort the Elections Department and we precinct workers devote accommodating disabled voters, who represent an infinitesimal part of the voting population. We had ten or so voters come in using walkers. A few of them needed to sit down while they voted. None of them needed the Touch Writer [an ADA device]. None of them needed an ADA vothing booth. Just a place to sit down while they voted. No exotic equipment or services was needed.

Machines, voting booths, signage, location, parking. How *#!@%$ hard is it to get someplace and make marks on a piece of paper? I thought the ADA was supposed to help disabled folks mainstream into society, not become an elite part of it. Holy Toledo!

I get that being disabled is difficult. But I just don’t grasp the hardship that is voting. Jesus. Vote by mail. If you feel the physical voting experience is necessary get someone to help you come in and vote.

[/vent]

I welcome comments from disabled voters. Educate me why my Elections Department and my Board need to spend so much money, time and effort accommodating you, when you represent a small part of the voting population.

2

Because disabled people deal with enough shit in their lives already, and they don’t need more shit piled on to exercise a constitutional right.

3

Wow. That turned out to be the complete opposite of what I was expecting. So good to know this is who we’re putting in charge of local polling places. Gives me hope for democracy.

4

I’m surprised they keep letting you work more poles. Surely there’s someone at least as qualified that won’t send letters to them telling they they’re making it far too easy for everyone to vote.

5

I’m not disabled, but disabled people have the right to vote. You seem to be complaining because you spent so much time on accommodations that weren’t ultimately used. I can sympathize with frustration over your efforts going to waste. But I cannot sympathize with your inability to recognize the potential cost if you hadn’t accommodated, if a disabled person was not able to cast a vote.

Their right to vote is more important than the tax dollars spent protecting it.

~Max

6

Because all citizens have the right to vote.

You have no idea how many people didn’t show up because your original “compliant” setup didn’t accommodate them.

7

Moreover, just because there wasn’t any disabled voters for one election, doesn’t mean there won’t be any in the future. If you’ve got a good location and processes established now, it should be suitable for years.

8

You should consider starting a pit thread.

9

I feel like supporting a better absentee voting system would really help cut down on the number of people who are physically disabled going in. Maybe your area implemented a good system for that - I don’t know. I know some areas have am absentee system, but only for specific cases. Having to work that day is not considered one of those cases. If every area of government supported strong absentee voting systems, I imagine the amount of funding for what you’re talking about could safely go down. Or maybe it wouldn’t ultimately make any difference :confused:

10

I dunno - I think some sort of sliding scale might apply. Sure, “reasonable” accommodations ought to be provided. But what accommodations are reasonable. Is not the ability to vote by mail an accommodation?

I do not agree with a proposition that infinite expense ought to be incurred to accommodate minuscule (or nonexistent) numbers of people, with every conceivable manner of impairment. So where do we draw the line?

11

Washington (and Oregon?) are 100% mail-in ballots. I haven’t heard of any problems.

12

In Arizona, you can get on a permanent mailing list just by requesting it. You don’t need to be disabled or have any other reason for requesting a mail-in ballot.

13

Wow.

14

I think I see what’s going on here.

15

By the time my grandmother voted in her last election she couldn’t get to the polling place easily, so her great-granddaughter was authorized to help her fill out the ballot at home, and send it in. Grandma thought voting was important, but I doubt she would have demanded fancy devices to help her. Why is it necessary to actually go to the polling place, you can still vote, that’s not being messed with.

And my grandmother may very well hold a record for voting in US presidential elections. She started in 1928, and, at the age of 107, voted in the 2012 election. Between me and thee I think my vote and my Grandma’s cancelled each other out.

16

You can’t just force disabled people to vote by mail. They (or anyone else) might have reasons not to.
The accommodations have to be there, in case people DO need them.
You think it’s not a big deal if a few disabled people aren’t able to vote? How would you like it if you were part of a group of people who weren’t able to vote for some reason, and people were acting like your vote didn’t matter?

Society should stop treating disabled people like they’re lesser people. This includes voting stations, and ADA-compliant voting stations are a step in the right direction for disability rights.

17

If you’d like to post your precinct information, I’d be happy to have some disability advocates articulate the specific issues.

18

There must be a way for the person to cast the vote without discriminating against their disability. Absentee voting cannot be a substitute for in-person voting, because that would result in discrimination based on disability: everyone would be able to vote by mail, but only some would be able to vote in person.

~Max

19

It doesn’t matter how good your absentee system is, if you have physical polls (or a restaurant or a book store or just about anything) that people can get to, handicapped people should be able to access it as well.

Is that something that differs from area to area? I would have thought voting rules would be made at the federal level. I know in my area anyone at all for any reason at all, is allowed to get an absentee ballot. I don’t know why they don’t just automatically mail them out. Seems easier for everyone involved.

20

My only disability involves hearing loss. * Every* American has the right to vote, regardless of how it inconveniences the OP.

That’s all I’ll say until the thread is moved to the pit.