Accessible Democracy
I'm in Cleveland today, for a presentation to the Ohio Association of Elected Officials on the voting rights of people with disabilities. I thought it might be helpful, for election officials as well as voters with disabilities and their advocates, to post the PowerPoint slides from my presentation. They cover the voting system requirements of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, but focus mostly on polling place access requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Also presenting was David Vottero, an architect with SchooleyCaldwell Associates whose presentation will be posted on their site.

In the course of my research for this presentation, I found a few places with helpful information on disability access issues surrounding voting. Foremost among them is the ADA Checklist for Polling Places published by the Department of Justice, as well as the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities on which the checklist is largely based. Also instructive, though a bit dated, is a 2001 GAO report, Voters with Disabilities: Access to Polling Places and Alternative Voting Methods, which contains the most comprehensive assessment polling place access that I've seen. - posted by Dan Tokaji @ 1:13 PM