In partnership with AAPD’s Disability Voting Rights Week, we are giving a rundown of your rights as a disabled voter! We will also give you some insight into voting as a disabled student!
New Disabled South said it best, “The ADA is the floor, not the ceiling.”
The ADA provides a bare minimum on voting rights, and your state legislatures are responsible for the rest.
The Students with Disabilities Advocacy Group is based in Georgia, so this guide is based on Georgia laws. To check other state laws, check out the Voting Rights Lab State-by-State guide (linked here).
Registering to Vote:
You can register to vote online or by paper registration.
You can receive assistance registering to vote through either medium, but whoever helps you register must sign the oath next to your signature.
Casting Your Ballot:
During early voting, disabled voters are able to skip the line. Just ask a poll officer!
On Election Day, the polls will be open from 7am to 7pm. Between 9:30 am and 4:30pm, you can skip the line as a disabled voter. Talk with a poll officer to skip the line!
The following voting methods are available, ask a polling officer for any of the following:
Seated voting is available. Every polling location should have at least 1 touchscreen voting machine that can be used while sitting in a chair or wheelchair.
Three accessibility devices are available at polling locations; an Audio Tactile Interface (ATI), sip and puff device, or a paddle device.
Visual mode voting is available. With visual mode voting, you can navigate your ballot using one of accessibility devices available. These devices are partnered with a visual display.
Audio mode voting is available. With audio mode voting, the voter uses a set of headphones paired with one of the accessibility devices.
Tactile mode is available. The polling officer can provide you with a handheld ATI device to navigate your ballot.
Unless you are subject to legal guardianship, all of these rights apply.
To learn more about the ins and outs of your voting rights under guardianship, check out the National Disability Rights Network guide on Voting Rights of Individuals Subject to Guardianship (linked here).
For Disabled Student Voters
The Students with Disabilities Advocacy Group was started in 2021 at Georgia Southern University. During our time at GSU, we have been able to do voter registration on campus.
A common misconception among students has been where and how they can register to vote. Many students were under the impression that they had to vote out of their hometown, despite spending most of the year in Statesboro.
We're here to clear the air on these misconceptions!
You can register to vote with your dorm or off-campus apartment address! As a student, you live 9 to 10 months out of the year in your college town. You have a right to vote locally.
If you are already registered to vote in your hometown, you are able to change your voter address as many times as you need!
In Georgia, you will need to bring a state photo ID to vote, but your state ID address does not have to match your voter address.
Depending on the type of student ID, you may be able to use it when you vote in Georgia. Check out Campus Vote Project's State Student Voting Guides (linked here) to check your state's rules around student IDs!
As a disabled voter, your vote especially matters in your state and local elections. Your local representatives are the ones making decisions around public transportation, community funding, and local accessibility. Your state government has a significant role in deciding how we fund essential state disability services, the expansion of Medicaid, and more.
In a recent decision by Statesboro-Bulloch's Board of Elections, it took local disabled and black advocates showing up at meetings to ensure a new county polling location was accessible. With 60% of polling locations having at least one accessibility barrier (source linked here), the disabled community must show up in local government to fight for our right to access.
Your presence and drive as a young, disabled voter is essential. Make your plan to vote using RevUp's guide (linked here)!
Comments