Accessibility and voting polls

[Sunshine]

Yesterday I voted .

It was at the local church. There were no stairs to enter the door which was high off the cround, maybe chest to head high , I will go back and look.

There was not enough room on the land dedicated to the ramp. So, it was quite steep. A wheelchair would be dangerous, and impossible to self propel. Going down would be too dangerous, it would go out of control.

For me, steep inclines are hard to walk up, unless I do them backwards or side step. I did it backwards. Lesson learned: do early voting cuz it’s in a different and more manageable facility. Gunshy about absentee, due to Roses experience this year.

It made me wonder about the steepness of the ramp. Before gently letting the Supervisor of election know, I thought to run it by you all.

[agate]

The ADA has strict regulations about the slope of a wheelchair ramp. A ramp can't be pitched at too steep an angle. BUT there are a jillion exceptions to the rules. Your polling place might have qualified for one of the exemptions.

I've encountered some impossible ramps, usually too steep. Sometimes if there's a bump, I can't get the chair over the bump.

I haven't been near a polling place since about 1981 but have probably voted in every election. I'm signed up for an absentee ballot, and I get one for every election that comes along. I think Rose may have had exceptionally rotten luck, or maybe states differ in how efficiently they handle absentee ballots. In WA and OR I never had a problem.

[funnylegs4]

Luckily my polling place is at an accessible school campus so I have no problem but many of my disabled friends live in govt accessible housing yet their polling place is not accessible which makes no sense. I saw in the news that some politicians want to shut down inaccessible polling places until they are made accessible but I saw some people saying that this would hurt non white voters somehow...I don't get the connection to non white voters because many, many disabled people are non white so if anything it will help the minority communities if non white disabled voters could actually get inside the polling place. Unless I'm missing something here....

[Sunshine]

They oughta just make thme accessible and fast, rather than shut em down!

I found that for every 1 inch of height of the top of the ramp, the ramp should be 12 inches long. So at my place, if the door is 4’ high, the ramp should be 48’ long. No way it was anywhere close to that length. I will measure it this week and then contact elections supervisor with info.

[Catdancer]

Luckily my polling place is at an accessible school campus so I have no problem but many of my disabled friends live in govt accessible housing yet their polling place is not accessible which makes no sense. I saw in the news that some politicians want to shut down inaccessible polling places until they are made accessible but I saw some people saying that this would hurt non white voters somehow...I don't get the connection to non white voters because many, many disabled people are non white so if anything it will help the minority communities if non white disabled voters could actually get inside the polling place. Unless I'm missing something here....

Yes, you're missing something. This was in Georgia. All of the polling places they wanted to shut down were in all-black districts. All those polling places were open for years. Black people with disabilities managed just fine with there not being accessible bathrooms in those places. Closing them would have meant people would have to travel miles to get to one of the two remaining polling p!aces left --both in white districts.

This would have meant voter registrations would have to be redone, long long lines at the polls, long distance travel....all very difficult if not impossible for poor black people with limited means, both in money and time.

This plan was NOT in deference to people with disabilities but rather an attempt to disenfranchise people, suppress the vote. The plan was proposed and supported by a bunch of white men, intending to impose it on a minority group.

Thankfully it was voted out unanimously and the guy proposing it lost his job and the consulting contract that came up with it.

[Catdancer]

Yesterday I voted .

It was at the local church. There were no stairs to enter the door which was high off the cround, maybe chest to head high , I will go back and look.

There was not enough room on the land dedicated to the ramp. So, it was quite steep. A wheelchair would be dangerous, and impossible to self propel. Going down would be too dangerous, it would go out of control.

For me, steep inclines are hard to walk up, unless I do them backwards or side step. I did it backwards. Lesson learned: do early voting cuz it’s in a different and more manageable facility. Gunshy about absentee, due to Roses experience this year.

It made me wonder about the steepness of the ramp. Before gently letting the Supervisor of election know, I thought to run it by you all.

Churches and other private facilities are exempt from the requirements of the ADA. Your call to your supervisor should be to request that the site be moved to a more accessible location. Public facilities that were already built when the ADA was passed are exempt until such time as they sell, or remodel theirstructure, at which time it has to be made accessible. But even then, as someone already said, there are a zillion exceptions.

[Catdancer]

I don't know what problems Rose had, but I've been voting absentee now for several years without any issues. The ballots get to me weeks before the election, with all the instructions right there, and clear. I fill them out, pop them back into the postage paid envelope, and mail it back.

Here in Wisconsin, if a disabled person gets to a poll and finds it not accessible, they are allowed to call in, and two pool workers will come out to the car, ballots in hand, stand by while the person fills them out, seal them in an envelope, and return inside.

My polling place is accessible --a ground level school. It does not have an accessible bathroom,though....

[Sunshine]

Where do they call in? Some central number? That’s interesting!

When I got into the room, luckily I brought my own seat to sit on, a light weight handicap stool, because there ere no chairs in the check in area. Then it was a longish walk, about 40 steps to out the finished ballot in the machine. I asked if they cud do it for me, to steps I had already used up I the ramp.

That stumped them. Luckily there was a clerk there who directed two people to walk together fornthe 40 steps and had me watched whole time.

I don’t think they’re set up for accessibility problems. Maybe most disabled people do absentee ballots.

But the clerk was a stately older African American woman with a strong and quiet demeanor. After the ballot was done she said, “Bless you.”—- it’s a southern thing....

[funnylegs4]

Yes, you're missing something. This was in Georgia. All of the polling places they wanted to shut down were in all-black districts. All those polling places were open for years. Black people with disabilities managed just fine with there not being accessible bathrooms in those places. Closing them would have meant people would have to travel miles to get to one of the two remaining polling p!aces left --both in white districts.

This would have meant voter registrations would have to be redone, long long lines at the polls, long distance travel....all very difficult if not impossible for poor black people with limited means, both in money and time.

This plan was NOT in deference to people with disabilities but rather an attempt to disenfranchise people, suppress the vote. The plan was proposed and supported by a bunch of white men, intending to impose it on a minority group.

Thankfully it was voted out unanimously and the guy proposing it lost his job and the consulting contract that came up with it.

Thank you! Yeah I definitely didn't see that part of the story. Yuck! Especially if disabled people could still vote in those locations just fine. If a polling place has to be made accessible a portion of it should remain open and functional until changes are complete. Voting should be the most accessible thing in the country yet it is not.

[Catdancer]

Where do they call in? Some central number? That’s interesting!

When I got into the room, luckily I brought my own seat to sit on, a light weight handicap stool, because there ere no chairs in the check in area. Then it was a longish walk, about 40 steps to out the finished ballot in the machine. I asked if they cud do it for me, to steps I had already used up I the ramp.

That stumped them. Luckily there was a clerk there who directed two people to walk together fornthe 40 steps and had me watched whole time.

I don’t think they’re set up for accessibility problems. Maybe most disabled people do absentee ballots.

But the clerk was a stately older African American woman with a strong and quiet demeanor. After the ballot was done she said, “Bless you.”—- it’s a southern thing....

Yes, here you call the county clerks office, who relays the call to the polling place in question. They did the posting of your ballot correctly....two people (one from each party), you watching to be sure they didnt switch ballots, or deface it in any way, until it was safely in the ballot box. Gotta love those southern nicities!!��

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All)))))) ~

For Cat, and any others, who may not know what happened to me during the Primary election, here is my account from the politics thread:




In California, we have an open primary, which means the primary ballot contains every candidate from every party for every voter.

Here’s an article explaining why that could be problematic, especially in the 2020 election:

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

I can’t describe the volume of flyers, letters, circulars, and phone calls I’ve received in the past 30 days. It’s incredible. And maybe somewhere among all of that junk mail, my absentee ballot was hidden.

Because I don’t have my ballot, and I am a permanent absentee ballot voter.

I called the Registrar of Voters, and I was told that my ballot was mailed on 5/7. Without it my options were: a) I could go to the county seat and get an emergency ballot; b) send someone to the county seat to get my emergency ballot; c) find an early voting location and go there to vote; d) vote at my polling place on June 5.

I asked, “What if I’m unable to do any of these things?”

The answer was, “I can’t help you.”

I’m furious and disgusted. I have never not received my ballot. What happens to it after it leaves my mail box with the mail carrier, who knows?

All of these flyers I receive indicate my party preference, so maybe someone in the post office might just notice that and accidentally lose my ballot?

Am I paranoid? Do I live in America, in a conservative county?

Yeah.

******************

To this, I will add that Jim and I went through every flyer and other pieces of junk mail every day, because we were looking for my ballot.

I think I'll call the Registrar in October to find out exactly when my ballot will be mailed for the mid-terms. If I don't receive it within a few days of that date, I will call again. If I have to do it, I'll go to early voting polls to avoid crowds. Of course, that is dependent upon what's happening with Jim and Jon, which is unpredictable from day to day, let alone 3 months from now. That is why I vote absentee.

Love & Light,



Rose

[Virginia]

I have, so far, not had any problem with absentee voting in NC. The outside of the envelope does not have my party preference on it.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Virginia)))))) ~

My absentee ballot also arrives in an unmarked envelope, which doesn't display my party preference. But all of the flyers and campaign mail sent to me does specify my party preference. And if our mail carrier has the other party preference, what is to prevent the mail carrier from "losing" my ballot in the mail? Nothing.

And if I pursued this, as in mail fraud, how far would I get and how much stress would it cause me? I have zero proof of any kind of tampering with my ballot.

I've been voting absentee for about 20 years, and this is the first time I have not received my ballot.

The options available to me were not suitable for an individual, who is elderly, or disabled, or is a 24 hour caregiver, or is ill, or can't drive, etc.

But the Registrar's office just told me that they couldn't help me.

To me, that is a red flag, which is preventing certain citizens from voting.

The reason I stopped going to the polling place and became an absentee voter is because November is flu season. If I get the flu, I can't take care of my family, plus they get sick, and then it's ICU and a ventilator. For me, voting became a life and death matter.

I have voted in every election since I was eligible to vote. And, I'm still furious that I was denied that right in the Primaries.

My experience isn't unusual. We had several voting irregularities in California, including preventing sight-impaired people from voting.

I have absolutely no trust in our government now. Nothing would surprise me.



Love & Light,



Rose

[Catdancer]

It could simply have been lost. Or with the flurry of junk mail, got thrown out. Starting conspiracy theories only drives you crazy and brings out the wacky folks. I live in very red very rural very small town America. Im.pretty sure my husband and I are some of the very few democrats in this county . my Ballots arrive well within.the time I need them. Ballots here come in very large envelopes, well marked "absentee ballot" . Because I don't have to declare which party I'm in, every ballot for every party is included, and I have to sort through to get the ones I need. As I said before, it's easy. I pull out the ones I need, fill them out, off they go.

Yes, you do.read about errant mail carriers who discard mail, or take it home, or whatever. But to suggest that there's a political motive behind it? Not likely. .if you sorry about your particular mail carrier, you could always mail it somewhere else.

Did you check your regstration? Could it be that you've been dropped, somehow?

[agate]

I often get mail that is clearly addressed to other people, usually neighbors here in this building. They get my mail too. Somehow those pieces of mail usually find their way back to the correct addressees eventually but sometimes they don't.

I've received an envelope addressed to me from one source with an envelope addressed to someone else stuck to it, from the same source. Envelopes that are put out in huge quantities, as absentee ballots are, can and do stick together, and someone else may have got your ballot.

Maybe that person was away on vacation or in the hospital or whatever, and the mail was piling up, and whoever was in charge of the mail stupidly tossed out anything that went to the wrong addressee. Or opened it by mistake, assuming without looking closely enough that it was properly addressed.

I've done this myself--opened an envelope and then found it was addressed to someone else. I've always seen to it that it got to the right person but some people don't notice or don't bother.

There's a lot of this indifference. Mail carriers don't always bother to read those addresses carefully. Many people have reading skills that are at about the 6th grade level.

There are any number of ways an absentee ballot might fail to reach the addressee, seems to me.