EP: What Type of Assistance Can Voters Receive?

Disability access in voting refers to the accommodations and legal requirements that ensure individuals with disabilities can fully and equally participate in the electoral process. Disability access in voting is a nationwide issue. A report from PBS notes that there are one in five voters with disabilities either needed assistance or had difficulty voting in 2022 — three times the rate of people without disabilities. A survey conducted by Rutgers University and submitted to the Election Assistance Commission shows that individuals with disabilities are also less likely to vote compared to the general population. In 2020, the disability community voted at a 7% lower rate than their non-disabled peers.

In Texas, disparities are even more marked. According to New Disabled South Rising, while 1.7 million disabled Texans voted in 2020, 1.4 million disabled eligible Texas voters stayed home. Indeed, in the South, turnout gaps between disabled and nondisabled voters are some of the most stark in the nation. It is important for all Texans to pay attention to these turnout gaps because at least 3.5 million Texans have a disability, meaning that disability access issues significantly affect a wide range of other populations in Texas, including veterans (of whom 29% are disabled), the elderly (over a third of Texans over 65 have a disability, and over half of Texans over 75 have a disability), and Texans of all races and ethnicities.

When it comes to promoting and expanding disability access, one of the most important things that both voters and election officials can do is be aware of what types of protections and accommodations are available for disabled voters at both the federal and state level.

So today, we wanted to talk to you about what types of assistance disabled voters here in Texas can receive when they vote.

WHICH VOTERS CAN RECEIVE ASSISTANCE & WHO CAN ASSIST THEM?:

Both Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act and Sec. 64.031 of the Texas Election Code explicitly state that any voter who cannot see, mark, or read their ballot due to blindness, disability, or illiteracy has the right to choose an assistant of their choice (except for their employer, an agent of their employer, or an officer or agent of their labor union) to help them cast their ballot.

• Voters can receive assistance whether they vote in-person or by mail

• If a voter is assisted by poll workers in a general election, then a poll worker from two different parties should assist them if possible

WHO DETERMINES IF A VOTER QUALIFIES FOR ASSISTANCE?

THE VOTER determines that for themselves.  Poll workers and election officials do not have any legal authority to determine or verify a voter’s medical or disability status. 

WHAT TYPE OF ASSISTANCE CAN VOTERS RECEIVE?:

The person assisting the voter must read him or her the entire ballot, unless the voter asks to have only parts of the ballot read. The person assisting the voter must take an oath that he or she will not try to influence the voter’s vote and will mark the ballot as the voter directs. If the voter chooses to be assisted by polling place officials, poll watchers and election inspectors may observe the voting process, but if the voter asks to be assisted by a person the voter chooses, no one else may watch him or her vote.

It is illegal for a person assisting a voter to:

• Try to influence the voter’s vote;

• Mark the voter’s ballot in a way other than the way they have asked; or

• Tell anyone how the voter voted.

VOTERS MAY USE INTERPRETERS AT THE POLLS:

Voters who cannot speak English, or who communicate only with sign language, may use an interpreter to help them communicate with election officials, regardless of whether the election official(s) attending to the voter can speak the same language as the voter. 

• The voter may select any person other than the voter’s employer, an agent of the voter’s employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs. 

• If the voter cannot read the languages on the ballot, the interpreter may also act as an assistant for the voter, but they must follow the procedures for an assistant. (See assistance section above for more details.) 

• If the voter is deaf and does not have a sign language interpreter who can accompany them to help communicate with the poll worker or read the ballot, the voter should contact their local election officials before the election and request assistance.

WHAT DO I DO IF I HAVE QUESTIONS OR FACE PROBLEMS AT THE POLLS?

CALL THE NON-PARTISAN 866-OUR-VOTE ELECTION PROTECTION HOTLINE. 

TCRP partners with great organizations like the Lawyers Committee, the Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU of Texas, Common Cause Texas, the League of Women Voters of Texas, and Disability Rights Texas to run the nonpartisan 866-OUR-VOTE hotline. During Early Voting and on Election Day, we have trained volunteers on-call who can answer your questions about voting in Texas.