[KeyStoneChapter] IMPORTANT UPDATE: Blind Voters in Pennsylvania Win Court Challenge On Road to Fully Accessible Mail-In Voting and Receive Immediate Relief for June 2 Primary Election

[Joseph Drenth]

Please Note: 

When you send an email to the address ra-awib at pa.gov <mailto:ra-awib at pa.gov>
listed below to request your accessible write-in ballot, please add the
following as a carbon copy (CC recipient of the email: vote at nfbp.org
<mailto:vote at nfbp.org> 

We need to track how many individuals make this request. Thank you very
much.

 

 

For Immediate Release

May 28, 2020

 

Harrisburg, PA | On May 27, 2020, a federal District Court issued a
preliminary injunction requiring Pennsylvania to provide an accessible
option to blind voters who want to vote by mail for the primary election on
June 2.

 

The lawsuit, Joseph Drenth and the National Federation of the Blind of
Pennsylvania v. Secretary Kathryn Boockvar and the Department of State of
Pennsylvania, 20-cv-00829 (M.D. Pa.), alleges that Pennsylvania violates the
Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act by denying equal
access to the absentee and mail-in ballot process to blind voters.  The
paper ballots used by Pennsylvania do not allow blind votes to vote secretly
and independently, like other voters, and instead requires them to rely on
sighted third-parties for assistance.

 

This violation of blind voters' civil rights is particularly harmful for the
upcoming June 2, 2020 primary since blind voters, like many others, do not
want to risk their health and that of their loved ones by voting in person
in crowded polling places.  Plaintiffs filed a motion to require
Pennsylvania to adopt an interim solution to provide accessible absentee and
mail-in ballots to blind voters so they can vote in the June 2 primary.

 

Following a hearing yesterday, the court determined that the plaintiffs are
likely to prevail on the merits because they "have been denied the benefits
of a public program - in this case the ability to vote privately and
independently without being physically present at a polling location -
because of their disability."  Mem. at 12.  The court also held that
plaintiffs would suffer irreparable injury without a preliminary injunction
"because they are effectively forced to choose between forfeiting their
right to vote privately and independently or risking their health and safety
by traveling to a polling place to vote in person." Mem. at 13.

 

To obtain an accessible write-in ballot, an individual must:

 

1. Be an eligible Pennsylvania voter who applied for an absentee or mail-in
ballot by the May 26, 2020, deadline and has not yet submitted their voted
ballot.

 

2. Submit an email request to 

ra-awib at pa.gov <mailto:ra-awib at pa.gov> 

  for the accessible write-in ballot by 8 p.m. on May 29, 2020 . Include in
the email the voter's full name, date of birth and address where registered.

 

3. Complete an accessible declaration electronically sent to them by the
department and authenticate the declaration with a valid Pennsylvania
driver's license, a valid Pennsylvania state personal identification number
or the last four digits of the voter's Social Security number. 

 

The department will electronically transmit via email to the requesting
voter: (1) an accessible write-in ballot; (2) an accessible declaration
form; (3)

accessible instructions; (4) an accessible candidate list for the voter's
election district; and (5) a write-in envelope.

Using their screen reader software, voters with disabilities can then vote
in the privacy of their own homes, print their voted ballot and return it to

their county elections office. Their county must receive their voted ballot
by 8 p.m. on June 2.  A postmark is not sufficient.

 

The lawsuit will continue, and Plaintiffs will press for an online ballot
system that is fully accessible to blind voters for use in all future
elections beginning in November 2020.

 

Kelly Darr, Legal Director for Disability Rights Pennsylvania and co-counsel
with Brown Goldstein & Levy, LLP for Plaintiffs, said that "We understand
this is not an optimally accessible solution, but it is an option for blind
voters to vote in secrecy and independently who otherwise might have had to
vote in person - or forego voting altogether - during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania and their counsel
expect to secure a fully accessible online ballot process in time for the
November general election."

 

 

For questions or comments, please contact:

vote at nfbp.org <mailto:vote at nfbp.org> 

 

Joseph Drenth 

First Vice-President, National Federation of the Blind of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania State Board of Vocational Rehabilitation

Senior R&D Software Engineer, JBT Corporation, Automated Systems Division

Cell: 215-827-7787

Email: joe.drenth at gmail.com <mailto:joe.drenth at gmail.com> 

 

 

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