: Election Day Survival Kit for Voters with Disabilities

Election Day Survival Kit for Voters with Disabilities

This Survival Kit will provide you with much of the information you may need to fight to cast your vote and have it counted. Justin Dart, the "father" of the Americans with Disabilities Act, said: "Vote as if your life depends on it --because it does." Most of this message is specific to the laws and procedures in Pennsylvania.

Here is an outline of what follows:

• How do I locate my correct polling place?
• Will I be required to show ID to vote?
• Can I get assistance in the voting booth if I need it?
• What if I find my polling place is inaccessible on Election Day?
• How can I vote?
• What if my right to vote is challenged?
• What if someone says I'm not competent to vote?
• What can I expect from the new voting machines?
• New procedures for Emergency Application for Absentee Voting
• Who can I call on Election Day if I'm prevented from voting? How do I locate my correct polling place?

The official Pennsylvania Department of State site will tell you whether your polling place is considered accessible -or not. If your Election Day experience is that the accessibility information is not accurate, please let the Department of State and your County.

Will I be required to show ID to vote?

All first-time voters, and all voters who are voting for the first time in a precinct, can be required to show an acceptable form of ID.

If you do not have ID when you go to vote, and if returning later with proper ID is not an option, you have a right to vote by a Provisional Ballot. Provisional Ballots receive greater scrutiny than other ballots. However, if you are registered to vote, and if your signature matches the signature on your voter's signature card, then your Provisional Ballot should get counted. If necessary, casting a Provisional Ballot is much better than not voting at all.

Can I get assistance in the voting booth if I need it?

Voters with disabilities have the right to have the person of their choice provide assistance in the voting booth. The person providing assistance can be almost anyone -a friend, a family member, or even a poll worker. However, the assistant cannot be:

1. the voter's employer
2. the voter's union representative
3. the Judge of Elections

When a voter with a disability requests assistance in the voting booth, the poll worker should look up your registration card to see if it has a notation indicating that you require assistance. If there is no notation on the card, you will be required to complete a written statement explaining the nature of your disability. Some voters may be offended at intrusive questions like asking for the name, phone # and address of their doctor. But the poll workers are required to enter all this information, along with the name of the individual who provided assistance, into the "Record of Assisted Voters." The voting process is a very formal process with many safeguards.

What if I find my polling place is inaccessible on Election Day? How can I vote?

Voters with disabilities, as well as seniors 65 and older --who are assigned to inaccessible polling places --are eligible to cast an Alternative Ballot. It is called an "Alternative" ballot because it is a method of voting provided to the voter as an alternative to having an accessible location. (Some deal!) An Alternative Ballot looks exactly like an Absentee Ballot, but a different colored envelope is used to distinguish it from an Absentee Ballot.

The Pennsylvania Department of State created procedures for an Emergency Application for an Alternative Ballot, which may be filed as late as Election Day at 8:00 p.m. A voter with a disability who discovers on Election Day that their polling place is not accessible can file an Emergency Application for an Alternative Ballot. This Emergency Application must be filed on Election Day, before 8:00 p.m., at your County Elections Office.

What if you can't get to your County Elections Office on Election Day?

If you are unable to travel to the County Elections Office on Election Day, you can get a friend or relative to act as your agent to travel back and forth to the County Elections Office.

You will need to prepare three forms:

1. The Emergency Application for Alternative Ballot
2. The Designated Agent Form
3. The Certification of Designated Agent Form.

What if my right to vote is challenged on Election Day? What if someone says I'm not competent to vote?

In Pennsylvania, we have only 3 qualifications for a person to register and to vote. The individual must be:

1. A citizen of the United States for at least one month before the election;
2. A resident of Pennsylvania and the election district for at least 30 days before the election;
3. At least 18 years of age on or before the day of the election. Pennsylvania doesn't have any laws that restrict the right to vote of people who happen to have developmental, mental health, or physical disabilities. In rare instances, Courts issue orders depriving people of the right to vote. Individuals incarcerated in penal institutions for felony convictions are denied the right to vote. But, "electors" in Pennsylvania cannot be challenged on ability or worthiness.

What can I expect from the new voting machines?

Many voters will be using the new voting machines for the first time. For many voters with disabilities, these machines will be easier to use than the older systems --for others there may not be much difference.

What should you expect?

The Help America Vote Act says that these machines "shall be accessible to individuals with disabilities in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and independence) as for other voters." If your experience with the voting machine you use is that is does not provide you with equal access and participation (including privacy and independence) as for other voters, please inform the Pennsylvania Department of State, you County, and me, of that fact.

Reports from last year indicated these machines may be adequate for voters with visual impairments. But, poll workers were occasionally unable to switch the machines to audio mode, and the voting process can take an extremely long time for a voter using the audio mode.

However, reports from the Primary Election indicated that many models of voting machines did not provide voters with significant manual dexterity limitations with a private and independent voting experience. Many of these voters found the new machines to be as useless as the old machines. If this is your experience, please let us know.

New procedures for Emergency Application for Absentee Ballot This year the Pennsylvania Legislature created procedures for voters to vote by absentee ballot when circumstances prevented the voter from applying by the regular deadline of one week prior to Election Day. If you become physically disabled or ill between 5:00 P.M. on the Friday before Election Day and 8:00 P.M. on Election Day or if you find out after 5:00 P.M. on the Friday before Election Day that you will be absent from your municipality of residence on Election Day because of your business, duties or occupation, you can receive an emergency absentee ballot if you complete and file with the court of common pleas in the county where you are registered to vote an emergency application or a letter or other signed document, which includes the same information as that provided on the emergency application.

Obtaining an Emergency Absentee Ballot If You Are Not Able to Appear in Court

If you are not able to appear in court to receive the ballot, you can designate, in writing, a representative to deliver the absentee ballot to you and return your completed absentee ballot to the county board of elections. If you are not able to appear in court or obtain assistance from an authorized representative, the judge will direct a deputy sheriff of the county to deliver the absentee ballot to you if you are at a physical location within the county.

Who can I call on Election Day if I'm prevented from exercising my right to vote?

Disability Rights Network of Pennsylvania 1-800-692-7443 1-877-375-7139 (TODD)

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