Practical steps towards full accessibility for voters with disabilities

Across the data from the surveys and interviews, participants identified several persistent barriers for people across different types of disabilities. The top issues are:

• Poll workers without adequate training for supporting voters with disabilities and creating a positive voting experience.
• The need for multiple voting options to meet the variety of access needs and logistical challenges, including the availability of voting in person and mail voting, voting outside of typical work hours (Sunday voting, e.g.), and curbside voting.
• The lack of plain language formats for information across sources, on government websites and mailers, ballots, and candidate materials.
• Logistical challenges such as scarce transportation resources and broken printers.
• Physical accessibility at polling places including lack of adequate parking, inaccessible entrances, hard to navigate spaces, long lines with no seating, and anxiety due to a stressful, chaotic environment.

Information barriers pose an initial difficulty for many voters

Language on government websites, candidate websites and materials, and ballots is often inaccessible and confusing. The result is difficulty in understanding how and where to vote, the meanings of ballot questions, and candidate platforms. For their part, election officials struggle to know the best way to reach voters with disabilities with limited budgets. 

Too often, polling places are not accessible

Challenges include a lack of accessible parking, pathways, and entrances, as well as long lines without seating.  Long wait times and a lack of seating affect many voters. Election officials report using both the federal checklist for polling place accessibility and their own checklists – one as long as 400 questions – to assess buildings as polling places. In small and rural jurisdictions, finding accessible spaces is a challenge. Even public government buildings may not fully meet ADA requirements. 

Logistical and planning challenges pose another hurdle

Transportation is a major issue for many voters with disabilities. Arranging rides to polling places and changes in polling place locations compound the transportation issue, especially in areas where districts change regularly. Election officials in our interviews were aware of the follow-on effects of making changes, but did not have a solution to the constant problem of finding suitable locations for in-person voting.

Emotional and cognitive strain intensify these difficulties

Many voters with disabilities reported anxiety, sensory overload, and fear of negative interactions. These may be heightened in a polarized political environment. Together, these findings illustrate that voting with a disability often requires significantly more planning, effort, and resilience than voting without one. This is a new area for election officials to consider.

Variations in policies by state make it hard to address needs

The lack of consistent options for voters with disabilities affects the ability of organizations to address the needs of voters. Disability leaders also want to see more publicity for accessible voting and the issues faced by people with disabilities. Wider awareness of the number of voters with disabilities and the effects of accessible voting on the broader public would help marshal support for policies that expand accessible voting.

Election officials face resource and funding challenges

Officials shared lists of things they wished they could do if they had time, budget, resources, or policy changes. It was not surprising to hear that there are significant differences in the kinds and amounts of outreach they do, depending on their state election policy and procedures. This suggests that it is critical to understand these constraints and policy differences when tailoring recommendations for the jurisdictions.

Possible activities to address these challenges

The interviews and surveys collected many ideas for activities – both long-term and short-term – to address these challenges. 

Outreach to foster collaboration

• Build networks for information-sharing among election officials
• Provide pathways for collaboration between election officials and advocates)
• Promote disability services more effectively through community networks

Research to fill information gaps

• Continue to measure voting turnout and experiences of voters with disabilities
• Conducting new, targeted quantitative and qualitative research on specific gaps
• Collaborative research or pilots to explore recommendations for accessible voting

Map policies that improve access and turnout

• What election practices, policies, and technologies are available to people with disabilities, and how do these affect turnout and the voting experience?
• Create a map of policies and evidence of their impact to instigate more productive and realistic conversations

Dissemination to ensure that ideas and outcomes are widely shared 

• Share successful programs that can have a cumulative effect
• Convene groups to bring together election officials, disability support organizations, and voters with disabilities.
• Publish ideas widely through the EAC Clearies, national election organizations, and state elections conferences

This research was conducted in collaboration with the Rutgers Voting and Disability Project by Lisa Schur, Douglas Kruse and Mason Ameri, Michelle Bishop (National Disability Rights Network), and Whitney Quesenbery, Misty Crooks, and Renee Edwards from CCD

This research included:

• Voters with disabilities. 3 focus groups with 14 voters with disabilities to gather in-depth qualitative data on their voting experiences. Participants included people with invisible disabilities (cognitive disabilities, emotional disabilities, and low literacy) as well as those with visible disabilities (e.g., mobility and vision impairments).
• Disability Leaders. 10 interviews with people in leadership positions in disability support and advocacy organizations. National, regional, and local organizations included advocacy non-profits focused on policy and centers for independent living. Participants’ areas of expertise included community organizing, policy and legal advocacy, plain language, accessible voting technology, and independent living.
• Election officials. 10 interviews with election officials from across the country whose work includes support or outreach for voters with disabilities. The interviews focused on the priorities and needs of election offices, including what is currently feasible and what would require new resources or policy changes.
• EAC Commissioners. 2 interviews included questions about their perspectives on progress toward ensuring election accessibility, the remaining barriers faced by people with disabilities, and which solutions hold the greatest promise for reducing these barriers.
• Survey of people with disabilities. A purposive survey of 254 eligible voters, conducted on the online Prolific platform. This survey gathered both quantitative and qualitative data on their voting experiences and preferred solutions to any problems. 
• Analysis of previous large-scale national surveys. These included nationally representative surveys of citizens with and without disabilities, sponsored by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission from 2012 – 2024, a YouGov survey in 2025, and turnout data from the Current Population Survey Voting and Registration Supplement is conducted by the Census Bureau every November in even-numbered years.

Each of these research activities was analyzed independently. Results were then compared to identify common views of the successes and barriers to private and independent voting by people with disabilities. That synthesis served as the basis for the report’s insights and recommendations.