Your voting rights as a person with a disability:
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The right to vote
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It is illegal for an election official to prevent you from voting if they believe you are “unqualified to vote”
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- The right to access your polling place
- You may ask an election official to bring a ballot to your car at your polling place (this is called “curbside voting”)
- You may inform election officials if you are unable to wait in line to vote
- The right to receive reasonable accommodations for your disability
- Election officials must provide you with help if it’s possible for them to do so
- The right to bring someone to assist you to vote
- This person cannot be your employer, an agent of your employer, or an agent or officer of the voter’s union
- The person must respect your privacy and not look at your ballot unless you ask them to do so
- The right to contact your Town/City Clerk to request accommodations
- The right to bring a reminder sheet of who you want to vote for
- The right to request a sample ballot to preview what you will be voting for
- The right to bring a magnifying glass to help you read the ballot
Vermont’s Accessible Voting System
- The Purpose of Vermont election laws is “to provide equal opportunity for all citizens of voting age to participate in political processes” 17 V.S.A. §2101
- In 2018, the Secretary of State's Office introduced a new accessible voting system. Through this system, voters are able to
- access a sample ballot
- Fill out a mail-in ballot online that can be printed and returned
- Use a tablet to vote, the responses of which will be marked on the same paper ballots voters are using at the polls
If you face any challenges in voting privately and independently or are unable to cast your vote, report the problem to the Election Protection hotline at 1-866-OUR-VOTE (1-866-687-8683). Trained attorneys can assist you and make sure that other voters do not experience the same problem.
Additional Resources
- ACLU National Voting Rights Guide
- Vermont Secretary of State- Voter Accessibility
- Disability Rights Vermont- Voting Rights
- Voting guides: Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
- Voting with a disability toolkit: Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
- Accessible trainings on how to exercise your rights as a voter with a disability: SABE’s GoVoter Project
- Polling place accessibility requirements training Rocky Mountain ADA Center.
- Voting in formation in American Sign Language: SignVote.
