Laws that Help and Hinder People with Disabilities at the Poll Booth
- Sam Shepherd
- Oct 6
- 5 min read
By Kaylie Foster
Elections are an imperative part of the United States’ civic process, and voting is constitutionally recognized as an American right. Throughout the last 60 years, federal laws have been passed to further protect disabled Americans’ voting rights and ensure equal access to elections; however, new laws are quickly and quietly disenfranchising disabled voters in several states. To best advocate for Americans with disabilities, Americans must be familiar with these laws.
Laws that protect people with disabilities during elections
Several policies have been signed into law to make the election process better suited for people with disabilities since the 1960s.
Passed in 1965, the Voting Rights Act (VRA) guarantees access to a helper of a disabled person’s choosing during the voting process, so long as that helper is not their employer or union representative [1]. VRA prohibits competency requirements such as a reading or writing proficiency demonstration, an interpretation test, or a certain education level to vote [2].
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, specifically Section 508, requires that websites containing election information be fully accessible for people with disabilities [2].
In 1984, Congress passed the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (VAEHA), which requires all federal polling places and registration facilities to be accessible for the elderly and people with disabilities [1]. Polling places that are not yet fully accessible (i.e., lacking ramps, inadequate parking, etc.) are required to provide alternatives, such as curbside voting, where voters can fill out their ballots without having to leave their vehicles. Additionally, people with disabilities can move to the front of the line at polling places [2].
The sweeping Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) doubles down on equal voting rights for people with disabilities [1]. Polling places are required to offer equal access to disabled and able-bodied Americans. The ADA features a list of accessible practices for polling places to use, which is overseen by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Everything from registration to Election Day activities must be accessible, including both absentee and mail-in ballots [2].
Introduced in 1993, the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) expands voter registration access by requiring public agencies that primarily serve people with disabilities to offer opportunities to register to vote [1].
Most recently, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) ensures polling system equality for people with disabilities. Each polling facility is required to have at least one accessible voting system, which includes assistive technologies such as screen readers, magnifiers, lowered machines, touchscreens, assistive buttons, and sip-and-puff technology, which allows voters to operate voting machines through air pressure signals. HAVA promises disabled voters the rights to privacy and independence afforded by non-disabled voters [2].
New laws that further stifle the vote
Despite the progress made in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, recent laws have moved accessibility in voting backward. Many Americans are quickly losing access to voting, and most of these laws affect low-income or marginalized communities at higher rates. Americans with disabilities are facing significant losses to voting access.
Although VRA gives disabled voters the right to helpers while voting, some states penalize people who assist in voting, claiming such assistance is voter fraud [3]. Even when disabled voters choose someone they trust to help them in accordance with VRA, their ballots can be disregarded because of these voter fraud laws.
A push for more secure elections – especially among Republican states following the 2020 election – led to 17 new laws being written before the 2024 presidential election that limit mail-in voting, shorten the window to return ballots, and ban absentee ballot drop boxes [3]. People with disabilities often take advantage of absentee voting options because most polling places (up to 60%) are not fully accessible [4]. Voters who live in institutions and cannot vote in person are being silenced.
ID requirement laws are being passed in states across the country, again with the intention of making elections more secure. However, these laws disproportionately target marginalized communities – including the disabled community – who have less access to state-issued IDs [5].
People with mobility issues and mental disabilities may have difficulty going to the DMV for an ID or have trouble understanding the process of renewing IDs. Some states only allow certain forms of ID, such as passports, military IDs, and driver’s licenses. Certain disabilities make it difficult for people to obtain any of these IDs, causing eligible voters to lose access to elections. States with ID requirements have significantly lower voter turnout than states without [5].
Laws surrounding guardianship vary by state. In some states, people with disabilities under any form of legal guardianship are forbidden from voting, while in others, a judge has the sole decision over which subjects of guardianship cases can continue voting. There is no federal standard of mental capacity, and some language surrounding guardianship is archaic and derogatory [6].
What more needs to be done to protect people with disabilities during elections
Michelle Bishop, disability advocacy specialist for voting rights at the National Disability Rights Network, suggested in her 2019 congressional testimony that there are two leading areas of growth for disability voting rights: enforcement of disability protections and funding for research and development on voting technology for people with disabilities [4].
According to Bishop, only 40% of 2016 polling places were fully accessible to Americans with disabilities – an all-time high for the United States. Only 35% of voting booths were accessible, down from 50% in the previous election. Nearly 1,700 polling places were closed in 13 states over six years, all of which blamed their closures on ADA non-compliance. Bishop called these closures a “smokescreen for voter suppression” [4].
The years of laws meant to guarantee accessibility are grossly under-enforced. Rather than making simple and inexpensive improvements to polling places, states are closing polling places at record-high numbers. These mass closures are not investigated by the DOJ, despite its being the primary enforcer of the ADA [4].
Bishop recommends that new legislation be passed that will hold the DOJ accountable for enforcing the ADA. Rather than closing polling places, which by nature decreases accessibility, the DOJ must ensure these places are in accordance with the ADA, and Congress must allocate funds to help states make changes to their polling places. Additionally, election workers should be better trained on what ADA compliance looks like, since many are unaware they are out of compliance [4].
Technology always has room to grow, especially in the arena of disability assistive technology. Bishop suggests that Congress allocate funds to further investigate new technology that can better serve people with disabilities, potentially at a lower price than the technology known now [4].
With continued advocacy, the unjust language of guardianship laws can change, and the competency requirements that unfairly disenfranchise people with disabilities can be overturned. Advocacy must continue to prevent new laws from making it harder for people with disabilities to vote, such as laws that decrease absentee voting accessibility and increase ID requirements.
This article is part one of a two-part series. To read part two, click here.
Sources
[1] NDRN. (2022, March 14). Voting accommodations for people with mental disabilities.
National Disability Rights Network. https://www.ndrn.org/resource/voting-
accommodations-for-people-with-mental-
disabilities/#:~:text=What%20are%20some%20barriers%20people%20with%20mental%
20disabilities%20face%20in%20voting?&text=Because%20of%20real%20or%20perceiv
ed,in%20line%20at%20the%20polls.
[2] NCLS. (2025). Voters with disabilities. National Conference of State Legislatures .
[3] Miller, N. S. (2024, March 27). Barriers to voting for people with disabilities: A research
roundup. The Journalist’s Resource. https://journalistsresource.org/home/barriers-to-
voting-for-people-with-disabilities-an-explainer-and-research-
roundup/#:~:text=%E2%80%9COut%20of%2050%20states%20and,by%20the%20Amer
ican%20Bar%20Association.
[4] Carden, E. (2022, August 24). Impact of voter ID laws on people with disabilities.
disabilities/
[5] Hesano, D. (2024, January 11). How ID requirements harm marginalized communities and
their right to vote. Democracy Docket. https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/how-
id-requirements-harm-marginalized-communities-and-their-right-to-vote/
[6] Edwards, E. (2025, September 12). Inconsistent and Arbitrary Competency Laws Restrict
Voter Access for Individuals with Disabilities and Under Conservatorship. Fair Elections
restrict-voter-access-for-individuals-with-disabilities-and-under-conservatorship/
