While nearly 18 million Americans living with a disability reported voting in 2020, making their voices heard during all-important elections is not always easy.

There are a handful of federal laws that protect people living with disabilities and their right to vote: the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002, to name a few.

Polling locations across the country must be ADA compliant, which has a lot to do with physical accessibility, such as appropriate parking, ramps or elevators for folks using a wheelchair or walker. 

If the accommodations can’t be made, then a voter needing them must be given an alternate location, or other means to cast their ballot. Election officials must also allow voters who are blind to receive assistance from a person of their choice.

The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 has also made great strides in increasing a historically low registration rate of persons with disabilities. In 2020, for instance, about six percent more people with disabilities voted than in 2016.

With all that, however, there are still issues that come about. So advocates say it’s important to know your rights, not only for the person living with a disability but their parent, guardian or caretaker.

“It involves simple things like transportation, explaining to them what it’s like waiting in line, what it’s like going into the booth or the support somebody needs to make their own personal choices with an absentee ballot,” explained Tom Schreck of Wildwood Programs.

The only scenario when a person living with a disability is not entitled to cast a ballot is if there is some sort of court order involving an individual’s mental capacity or competency.

“Everyone should have a right to vote unless a judge has said you do not have the right to vote in New York state,” said Disability Rights New York (DRNY) Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access program director Christy Asbee.

Advocates say elections are often a stressful time to begin with, and there is a potential for someone to have a mental health episode.

“That’s not a competency issue anymore, that’s a safety issue,” Asbee said. “And that should be something that poll workers are trained to de-escalate.”

If there are issues pertaining to any of this, DRNY and the attorney general’s office are opening a hotline Tuesday, or you can always contact your local board of elections office.