[IL-Talk] Fwd: Associated Press: Voters with disabilities often overlooked in voting battles

Tue Apr 4 02:30:52 UTC 2023

I forwarded this article to WZRD radio station a little while ago. One of
the students that is in that station wrote back and said it would be a
wizard news segment. So when I hear it I'll let you know when it's on.
It'll probably go into rotation.

Robert Hansen
hansen.robert70 at gmail.com

On Mon, Apr 3, 2023, 11:14 AM Denise Avant via IL-Talk <il-talk at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

>
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> *From:* "Danielsen, Chris" <CDanielsen at nfb.org>
> *Date:* April 3, 2023 at 10:23:58 AM CDT
> *To:* "President, National Federation of the Blind" <
> OfficeOfThePresident at nfb.org>, Communications Team <
> communicationsteam at nfb.org>, "Blake, Lou Ann" <LBlake at nfb.org>, "Kaloc,
> Jeff" <JKaloc at nfb.org>, "Chang, Patti" <PChang at nfb.org>, "Avant, Denise" <
> davant1958 at gmail.com>
> *Cc:* "Hill, Eve" <EHill at browngold.com>
> *Subject:* *Associated Press: Voters with disabilities often overlooked
> in voting battles*
>
> 
>
>
> https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/voters-disabilities-overlooked-voting-battles-98299877
> Voters with disabilities often overlooked in voting battles Advocates for
> the disabled say access for voters with disabilities remains a challenge at
> polling places throughout the United States ByAYANNA ALEXANDER Associated
> Press
>
> WASHINGTON -- Patti Chang walked into her polling place in Chicago earlier
> this year, anxious about how poll workers would treat her, especially as a
> voter who is blind. Even though she was accompanied by her husband, she
> said she was ignored until a poll worker grabbed her cane and pulled her
> toward a voting booth.
>
> Like many voters with disabilities, Chang faces barriers at the polls most
> voters never even consider — missing ramps or door knobs, for example. The
> lack of help or empathy from some poll workers just adds to the burden for
> people with disabilities.
>
> “It doesn’t help you want to be in there if you’re going to encounter
> those kinds of low expectations,” said Chang, 59. “So why should I go vote
> if I’m going to have to fight with the poll workers? I’m an adult and I
> should be able to vote without that.”
>
> Chang had a better experience when she cast an early ballot in March in
> the runoff election <https://abcnews.go.com/alerts/Elections> for Chicago
> mayor, a race that will be decided Tuesday, even as access to the ballot
> box remains a challenge across the city for voters like her.
>
> Chicago is among numerous voting jurisdictions across the United States
> with poor access to polling locations for disabled voters. Since 2016, the
> Department of Justice has entered into more than three dozen settlements or
> agreements to force better access in cities and counties under the
> Americans with Disabilities Act. Many of those places are holding elections
> this year.
>
> The department's targets are almost certainly an undercount of the number
> of places with poor access, according to disability rights activists who
> attempt to track ADA compliance and complaints from voters.
>
> Several, including Chicago, either missed their deadlines without making
> all the requested changes or asked for an extension.
>
> Chicago’s agreement with the federal government started in 2017 but has
> been extended twice; the current deadline is November 2024, the next
> presidential election. As of February, the city had 302 polling places that
> complied fully with the ADA and 327 with low accessibility or none at all
> for disabled voters.
>
> The expense of bringing aging buildings up to code is one challenge in
> complying, said Max Bever, a spokesperson for the city’s board of
> elections. Some polling places could be forced to close.
>
> “Things can be identified and surveyed, we can know the status of certain
> buildings — but actually making and funding the appropriate changes can be
> a long and difficult process,” he said.
>
> People with disabilities make up about one-fourth of the U.S. adult
> population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
> They have
>
> been ensnared in battles over access to the polls as many Republican-led
> states have passed restrictive voting laws in recent years, including over
> limits
>
> on what assistance a voter can receive and whether someone else can return
> a voter’s mailed ballot.
>
> In Wisconsin, disability rights activists scored a victory when they filed
> a legal challenge in federal court after the state Supreme Court, with a
> conservative majority,
>
> ruled that only the voter can return an absentee ballot. The federal court
> said that ran afoul of the Voting Rights Act. Nevertheless, voters with
> disabilities
>
> have been complaining that the federal law is being ignored in the run-up
> to Wisconsin's high-stakes election Tuesday, when control of the state’s
> high
>
> court could flip.
>
> They say local election officials throughout Wisconsin have been giving
> incorrect information on websites, in mailings and at polling places saying
> voters
>
> can’t receive help or have someone else return their ballot — without
> making the distinction that such assistance is allowed for voters with
> disabilities.
>
> Disability must be considered a fundamental right to enhance accessibility
> throughout the country, said Herbert Humphrey, the ADA coordinator for
> Jackson,
>
> Mississippi.
>
> “Typically, when you hear civil rights, you think about race. But no,
> civil rights includes the disability community, as well,” he said.
>
> Disjointed coordination between election authorities and disability
> advocates has been a persistent problem in Mississippi, especially related
> to reliable transportation. It was the reason Lee Cole, who is blind,
> missed a local election in Jackson in January.
>
> That frustrated Cole, 74, because she said she tries to vote in every
> election.
>
> “I live in senior housing now and we can't always vote because we can’t
> get to the site, and that's unfortunate,” she said.
>
> Mississippi’s local and state officials haven’t been receptive or
> collaborative, said Greta Kemp Martin, litigation director for Disability
> Rights Mississippi.
>
> Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin said the group met with Mississippi
> Secretary of State Michael Watson to discuss accessibility issues
> statewide. But Martin said Watson seemed uninterested, except when asking
> if the group had reached out to the election commission.
>
> “His attorneys were helpful, but we received no follow-up from them about
> the issues that we outlined,” Martin said.
>
> Watson's office said in a statement that it has communicated its efforts
> to the organization to best assist voters with disabilities in Mississippi
> and welcomes further dialogue for future elections.
>
> “Ensuring ADA compliance in localized polling places lies with each
> county, and the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office does not have
> enforcement authority,” the statement said. “Whether the designated polling
> places are county-owned or privately-owned, the counties are responsible
> for ensuring the polling places they have selected are ADA compliant.”
>
> After conducting routine polling place surveys, Disability Rights
> Mississippi sent letters in 2021 to state election commissioners and
> Watson's office about access problems in two small towns, but said it did
> not receive a response. The letters said the group had found “egregious
> violations of the ADA.”
>
> Local election offices are often burdened with a lengthy list of
> responsibilities, such as ensuring that equipment works properly and
> defending against cyberattacks. Because of that workload, disability right
> advocates say they try to reach out and help ensure that polling places are
> accessible, said Michelle Bishop, the voter access and engagement manager
> at the National Disability Rights Network.
>
> “This is a significant investment and I know that elections officials are
> typically under-resourced to do a multitude of things,” she said.
>
> The COVID-19 pandemic also shifted focus from ADA compliance as election
> offices had to ensure polling places were safe and had to mail and process
> a flood of mailed ballots, Bishop said.
>
> Poll worker training is a priority, especially to make sure workers and
> volunteers are sensitive to the needs of disabled voters, said Denise
> Avant, first vice president of the National Federation of the Blind of
> Illinois. The group offered to make a presentation during a poll worker
> class following last year’s midterm elections, but the Chicago Board of
> Elections declined, she said.
>
> The board did let the federation assist in testing voting machines for
> compliance and to provide guidance on how precinct workers could interact
> with voters who are blind or have low vision. It expects to work with the
> organization in the future now that in-person training has returned.
>
> Such training is needed to help poll workers gain a better understanding
> of how to best help voters with disabilities, said Kelly Knoop, who lives
> in Louisville, Kentucky, and has cerebral palsy. She uses a machine for
> those who may not be able to communicate with their own voices.
>
> Knoop's older sister, Karen Heil, also helps her communicate and said
> workers at their local precinct still seem unfamiliar with their lone
> accessible voting machine. Jefferson County, home to Louisville, entered
> into an ADA agreement with the Justice Department in 2022.
>
> “I sadly just have to say there are so many Americans that are looked upon
> as not being full citizens and not being worthy of all the rights that we
> do have,” said Knopp, 56. "We just need our lives to be as important as
> many other minorities.”
>
> ___
>
> Associated Press coverage of race and voting receives support from the
> Jonathan Logan Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all
> content.
>
>
>
> Christopher S. Danielsen, J.D.
> Director of Public Relations
> 200 East Wells Street, Baltimore, MD 21230
> (410) 659-9314, Ext. 2330 | cdanielsen at nfb.org
> Twitter: @rlawyer
>
>
>
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