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April 20, 2022 RAPID RESPONSE

Voting and the Disability Community: Progress Made and Needed

Voting is a fundamental right in the United States for all individuals. This webinar focuses on that right for voters with disabilities. Our panel discusses how the disabled community fared in the 2020 elections with vastly expanded voting by mail, consolidated polling places, persistent privacy concerns, and limited resources, among other barriers, and the path forward. After exploring these experiences and providing international comparisons, panelists provide their feedback and recommendations regarding the accessibility and ballot access standards in the ABA Standing Committee on Election Law’s Election Administration Guidelines and Commentary and also examine the “Options to Consider for Voters with Disabilities” in the ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice’s Voting Rights Toolkit. Have we met or approached hoped for progress outlined in ABA Resolution 14A113B on the accessibility of the electoral process.

Panelists

  • Denise Avant, Member, Board of Directors, National Federation of the Blind; Chair, ABA Commission on Disability Rights
  • Lou Ann Blake, Director of Research Programs, Blindness Initiatives, National Federation of the Blind
  • Eve Hill, Partner, Brown, Goldstein & Levy LLP; Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice
  • Lia Sifuentes Davis, Senior Litigation Attorney, Disability Rights Texas
  • Chad Vickery, Vice President, Global Strategy and Technical Leadership, International Foundation for Electoral Systems

Moderator

  • Jason D. Kaune, Partner, Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni, LLP; Programming Chair, ABA Standing Committee on Election Law

Joint Sponsors: ABA Commission on Disability RightsABA Standing Committee on Election Law

Co-Sponsor: ABA Section of State and Local Government Law

Resources

PowerPoint Presentation

America Votes! Challenges to Modern Election Law and Voting Rights, Fourth Edition
Edited by Benjamin E Griffith and John Hardin Young

ABA Election Administration Guidelines and Commentary - 21A610 Resolution 2021 Annual Meeting (americanbar.org)
   - [EXCERPT] Relevant Election Guidelines Toolkit Provisions

Past Standing Committee on Election Law Programs

SB548 CD1 (hawaii.gov)

Accessible Absentee Voting Fact Sheet | National Federation of the Blind of Illinois

Election Access Resources | National Federation of the Blind (nfb.org)

Voting, Accessibility, and the Law  | National Federation of the Blind (nfb.org)

Training the Poll Worker: Empowering the Blind Voter  | National Federation of the Blind (nfb.org)

2021-02 Regarding the Suppression of the Rights of Voters with Disabilities | National Federation of the Blind (nfb.org)

2019-05 Regarding the use of Accessible Ballot Marking Devices as the Primary Ballot Marking Tool | National Federation of the Blind (nfb.org)

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