The Justice Department has protections for voters with disabilities.
In other disability rights news from Merrick Garland, Kristen Clarke, and friends at the Department of Justice (DOJ), the federal agency issued a press release earlier this month wherein it shared a slew of “new and updated voting rights resources for voters and election officials.”
According to the DOJ, part of the update includes two new information guides, along with updates to five others, published by the Civil Rights Division. The DOJ notes this work is in accordance with its “longstanding practice” to update resources in election years. The sharing of new information is done with the intention of “[ensuring] that all qualified voters have the opportunity to cast their ballots and have their votes counted free of discrimination, intimidation, or criminal activity in the election process, and to ensure that our elections are secure and free from foreign malign influence and interference.”
More resources will be provided in the coming months, the DOJ said.
“The right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, the right from which all others flow,” Attorney General Garland said in a statement for the announcement. “The Justice Department is using every available authority to defend that right, both from efforts to undermine voting rights and from efforts to threaten and intimidate those who administer our elections. These updated resources will help voters understand their rights and assist public officials in fulfilling their duties.”
Of particular note for accessibility, the Justice Department has released an all-new guide which guarantees “voting protections for language minority citizens” under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act. The DOJ said Section 203 is devoted to “[mandating] language assistance to enable certain people with limited English proficiency to participate effectively in all phases of the electoral process.” For the disability community, the DOJ has updated its guide on the Americans with Disabilities Act and voting for disabled ballot-goers. The guide, the DOJ wrote, “describes the legal protections designed to allow equal access to every aspect of elections, including registration and voting, for people with disabilities.” The revisions detail, amongst other things, accessible polling places and nondiscriminatory policies and procedures.
Maria Town, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities, posted on X about the guidance for disabled people, saying in part “there is so much that is a big deal.” She also emphasized the Americans with Disabilities Act “categorically prohibits” states from restricting people with intellectual or other cognitive conditions from registering to vote due to their disability or guardianship status.
I spoke with Town in 2020 shortly after the ADA turned 30.
The DOJ’s announcement of revised voter information comes soon after I published an interview with Clear Ballot chief technology officer Chip Trowbridge. Amongst other topics, he reiterated the company’s mission of “[increasing] increase transparency and auditability in elections” especially for the disability community. The Boston-based Clear Ballot has worked with its neighbors in the Perkins School for the Blind in using its ClearMark technology to make the voting process more accessible—and more autonomous—to disabled voters everywhere.
The DOJ’s disability voters guide is available on the ADA’s website.
