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July 16-20 is National Disability Voter Registration week & we have all your voting resources right here!
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VOTE! It's Your Right.
As a voter with a disability, you have the right to:
- Vote privately and independently
- Have an accessible polling place with voting machines for voters with disabilities
- Wheelchair-accessible voting booths
- Entrances and doorways that are at least 32 inches wide
- Handrails on all stairs
- Voting equipment that is accessible to voters who are blind or who have low vision
- Bring your service animal with you into your polling place
- Seek assistance from workers at the polling place who have been trained to use the accessible voting machine
- Bring someone to help you vote (including a friend, family member, caregiver, assisted living provider, or almost anyone else, but not your employer or union representative).
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Call Pathfinder 
By Karen Mevis
CALLER: Hi, I turned 18 back in March and my high school gave me the form to apply for a voter registration card, so I’m now registered to vote. I know we have an election coming up and I’m excited to vote for the first time, but I’m kind of lost. I know about the bigger races and primaries – I know who I’m going to vote for for governor and I looked up the persons running for Congress, but how do I find out who is running in my county? I live in Oak Ridge and I don’t want to just randomly pick a candidate to vote for. I want to know enough to know who gets my vote. Do you have any tips? For Pathfinder's Response, READ MORE >>
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Disability Voter Stats
The disability community has enormous potential to make an impact voting! Here's the current data on voters with disabiliites:
- In 2016, there were 62.7 million eligible voters who either have a disability or have a household member with a disability, more than one-fourth (25%) of the total electorate.
- People with disabilities accounted for approximately one sixth (16.67%) of eligible voters in the 2016 election, totaling 35.4 million people in all.
- If people with disabilities voted at the same rate as people without disabilities ... there would be about 2.2 million more voters. (Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse, Rutgers University)
- The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) observed polling place accessibility at 178 polling places during the 2016 election. They found:
- Of the 178 polling places, 60% (107) had one or more potential impediments.
- Of the 137 where GAO was able to fully examine voting stations inside the polling place, 65% (89) had a voting station with an accessible voting system that could impede the casting of a private and independent vote.
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