Left to Right: Public Advocate, Letitia James; CIDNY Executive Director, Susan Dooha; Interpreter; CIDNY Voting Rights Coordinator, Monica Bartley Photo c/o CIDNY
On Wednesday, Public Advocate Letitia James joined the Center for Independence of the Disabled in New York (CIDNY) to release a joint policy report entitled, “Improving Voting Access for New Yorkers with Disabilities”. The report outlines current voting site accessibility issues, and puts forth findings and recommendations moving forward.
Over 900,000 New Yorkers live with disabilities. The policy report finds that many voting sites have inadequate signage, non-ADA compliant ramps, narrow doorways, and poorly-placed voting machines which make them largely inaccessible to disabled voters. Of roughly 1,400 Board of Election-assigned polling sites in New York City, half are Department of Education (DOE) schools. The report concludes that many accessibility issues remain unresolved due to the lack of specific agreements and standards between the New York City Board of Elections and the DOE, violating a federal order to bring about improvements.
“It is my conclusion that New York City is simply not doing enough to ensure our disabled population is able to access full voting rights,” said New York City Public Advocate Letitia James. “I recommend a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Board of Elections and all designated polling sites that would ensure accountability and transparency and eliminate obstacles for voters with disabilities. Implementing these simple recommendations can help New York City eliminate concerns raised by voters with disabilities, and would strengthen our electoral process to ensure fairness, transparency, and equity.”
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