A report on turnout and voting difficulties among people with disabilities. Holding demographic characteristics constant, voter turnout is roughly 12% lower among people with disabilities compared to those without. This paper summarizes obstacles that disabled voters face and suggests ways to remove these barriers in the future.
Potential solutions include:
- Increased accessibility of traditional polling places
- Alternative voting systems, such as mobile voting and vote-by-mail
- Increased training for elections administrators and poll workers to promote improved assistance for disabled voters
Links
Schur, L. (2013). Reducing Obstacles to Voting for People with Disabilities. White Paper prepared for Presidential Commission on Election Administration.