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    October 13, 2024 ABA Task Force for American Democracy

    Enhancing Accessibility in U.S. Elections

    Danielle Root and Mia Ives-Rublee, Center for American Progress, July 8, 2021
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    Summary

    This report highlights various barriers to voting faced by disabled voters, which contribute to the participation gap between disabled and nondisabled voters. In discussing these barriers, the report draws on data collected in the 2020 Election Disability and Voting Accessibility Survey, which was carried out by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and Rutgers University. After detailing these barriers, the report offers several recommendations to improve election accessibility, ranging from accessibility audits of election infrastructure to continuous and robust election funding.

    Key Findings

    Voters with disabilities face a range of challenges when attempting to vote. Since disabled voters are not monolithic, various voting-related practices can present difficulties. The authors describe the following challenges: inaccessible voter registration in person, by mail, or online; inaccessible voting in person or by mail; guardianship laws; and anti-voting laws.

    Key Recommendations

    The authors recommend that policymakers do the following to eliminate voting participation gaps:

    1.  Provide robust and continuous federal funding for election administration.
    2.  Conduct comprehensive accessibility audits on election systems with reform mandates.
    3.  Adopt pro-voter policies and meaningful accessibility standards for elections.
    4.  Rescind anti-voting rules and reform guardianship laws.
    5.  Develop safe and accessible election technology.
    6.  Crowdsource low- and no-cost accessible voting solutions.
    7.  Enhance enforcement of federal voting laws, including under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Help America Vote Act, National Voter Registration Act, and other laws.