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Many voters with disabilities find that voting by mail allows them to cast their ballots in a way that’s convenient for them. But there are options for those who prefer to vote in person in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia.
In all three jurisdictions, voters will find voting machines that are accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities.
Braden Stinar, a staff attorney with Disability Rights Maryland, describes an accessible machine as “a cool piece of technology that has speech-to-text, it has color contrast.” He added that voters can also alter the size of the text and adjust the height.
Entry to polling places must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Stinar, “So there must be some sort of accessible entrance.”
In Virginia, people who have disabilities and voters 65 or older can vote curbside. Maryland does not allow that, but Stinar said there have been efforts to change that law, and he expects those efforts will continue.
Anyone who has a disability that makes standing in line for long periods of time difficult will usually find they will be seated inside the polling place while their place in line is held for them.
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Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, explained, “The local board can just give the person who is in front of you or in back of you a placeholder ticket — just kind of marking your place in line,” and then the voter with disabilities can cast their ballot.
“Ask a judge to assist you,” Antoine said.
Stinar said another option for voters is called “the assistance by person of choice” method of voting. That’s typically a person chosen by the voter with the disability who acts as a proxy. And the types of help can include “helping them click the ballot marking device, or filling in the bubbles on their paper ballot.”
For those with limited language capabilities, the person helping the voter can “explain what’s on the ballot, help them work through it,” Stinar said.
Virginia has a similar rule, with some exceptions, including an employer or representative of that voter’s labor union.
Stinar said people who are under guardianship orders also retain the right to vote: “And that, I know, is very different than a lot of states around the country. In many states, you automatically lose your voting rights when you’re under guardianship.”
“In the state of Maryland, you retain your voting rights unless the guardianship order very specifically states that a judge is revoking your voting right,” Stinar said.
In Maryland, the Maryland Transit Authority is offering free rides on its “core service” lines. That would include CityLink, LocalLink and Express BusLink services along with the Baltimore Metro Subway Link.
WMATA is not offering discounts to the polls.
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