AAPD Press Release:
GAO Report Finds Improvements in
Voting Access for People with Disabilities
More Improvements Necessary for All to Have Access, According to AAPD
WASHINGTON,
DC – June 11, 2009 – Numbers released by the U.S. Government Accountability
Office this week show people with disabilities had less impediments at polling
places during the 2008 presidential election, but not all people with
disabilities are able to access polls and vote privately and independently.
“In
2000, the country failed to make voting accessible to people with disabilities.
In 2008, the nation gets a B-minus for making voting accessible,” said AAPD’s
Vice President for Organizing and Civic Engagement Jim Dickson.
The
U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an interim report on
voting accessibility Wednesday comparing last year’s presidential election to
the 2000 election and the good news, according to Dickson, is there has been
progress. The bad news, he said, is we have a long way to go and for voters who
use wheelchairs, the nation still gets a failing grade
for polling place accessibility.
In the 2000 election, only 16 percent of polling places were
accessible to wheelchair users, according to the GAO report. In 2008, 27
percent of polling places were accessible.
Once a voter is in the voting room, 77 percent were able to vote
privately and independently at an accessible voting station. Inadequate poll
worker training is a major concern, In 5 percent of polling places, the
accessible voting device was not plugged in or turned on, according to the
report.
“Way too many poll workers discourage voters from using accessible
equipment,” Dickson said.
An AAPD independent review of Election Day complaints showed that
inappropriate poll worker behavior, from poor poll worker etiquette toward
individuals with disabilities to accessible doorways at polling places not
being utilized for voters, was the largest set of complaints.
The GAO will release a more detailed final report on the Election
Day polling place accessibility findings in September.
The read the initial report in its entirety, visit http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-09-685.
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