Disability Voting News: April 16, 2025
Welcome to the Accessible Voting Booth for April 16, 2025. This week, we’re talking about the SAVE Act’s future in the Senate, constitutional amendments to protect early and no-excuse voting in Delaware, and accessible voting legislation in Connecticut and New Hampshire. Plus, a cool disability and democracy event is taking place tomorrow online and at the Museum of Science in Boston with Perkins School for the Blind! Read on for this unintentionally New-England-themed edition of the Accessible Voting Booth.
The SAVE Act has passed the House and moves to the Senate.
Last Thursday, the House of Representatives passed HR 22, the SAVE Act. I’ve covered the SAVE Act at length in previous newsletters because it will require people to provide documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. We’ve discussed how this requirement will impact married women, trans people, people in rural areas, people who cannot afford to get passports, and people with disabilities. On April 10, the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement released further data showing that over 21.3 million U.S. citizens lack easy access to documentary proof of citizenship. Disabled people are significantly impacted: they found that 2% of disabled people do not have documentary proof of citizenship, and DPOC was inaccessible for another 12% of disabled people. They defined accessible DPOC as the ability to obtain proof of citizenship documents the next day if they had to do so.
The SAVE Act has now moved to the Senate for consideration, and Utah Senator Mike Lee already introduced a companion bill, SB 128, earlier this year. The bill currently has 22 Republican co-sponsors. The SAVE Act needs Democratic support in the Senate to overcome the 60-vote threshold and make it to a final vote. However, as we learned in the House, we cannot rely on the promise of a party line vote on this bill, as four House Democrats voted in support of the SAVE Act: Jared Golden (Maine), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington), Henry Cuellar (Texas), and Ed Case (Hawaii). Golden defended his support of the SAVE Act on BlueSky, claiming it is “common sense” and garnering a rather remarkable ratio.
We can’t guarantee that this bill will be defeated in the Senate. While some Democratic Senators have issued statements or made comments indicating their opposition to the bill, others have not yet taken a position. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to contact your Senators and encourage them to vote no on the SAVE Act.
Event: Democracy is a Disability Issue
Tomorrow, Thursday April 17 at 7 PM Eastern, The Museum of Science and Perkins School for the Blind will be hosting a hybrid event highlighting how end-to-end accessibility is crucial for civic engagement. Join in person at Blue Wing of the Museum of Science in Boston or virtually to learn more about how people with disabilities engage in the political process, including media, voting processes, and political information. This is a fantastic opportunity for nondisabled allies working in democracy, voting rights, and civic technology to hear from disabled people about their lived experiences with civic engagement and learn about how they can make their work more accessible. This program is free. Register for Democracy is a Disability Issue.
Delaware Senate advances pro-voter constitutional amendments (via The Markup).
Last week, the Delaware Senate advanced SB 2, a constitutional amendment requiring ten days of early voting, and SB 3, a constitutional amendment to establish no-excuse mail voting. Delaware already has laws on the books establishing both early and no-excuse absentee voting, but the availability of early and no-excuse absentee voting in general elections has been caught up in legal battles (while they are still allowed for primary and special elections). In 2024, the state Superior Court had struck down the laws allowing for early voting and no-excuse absentee voting, a decision that was later struck down by the Delaware Supreme Court who found that the plaintiffs, which include an inspector of elections and Republican Senate Minority Leader Gerald Hocker, lacked standing.
However, voting rights advocates are concerned that because the court did not address the merits of the case, the availability of early and no-excuse absentee voting is at risk of being overturned in a future lawsuit or repealed by a future legislature. Therefore, some lawmakers are attempting to enshrine early voting and no-excuse absentee voting in the constitution to protect those voting options. SB 2 and SB 3 now move onto the House for consideration.
New Hampshire House passes bill to provide accessible voting systems for local elections (via Voting Rights Lab).
On April 10, New Hampshire's House passed H 67. This legislation aims to make permanent a six-month pilot program where the Secretary of State provides accessible voting systems for use in cities, towns, and school districts. In entering into this agreement with political subdivisions that have adopted an official ballot system, the Secretary of State would not only provide the accessible voting systems, but also provide guidance on programming ballots into the system and security and maintenance guidance. Additionally, the legislation would appropriate $100,000 for the fiscal year for the purpose of funding accessible voting systems.
While the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 requires that polling places have accessible voting machines in federal elections, this requirement does not apply to non-federal local and state elections. Some states like Michigan have statutes that apply the HAVA’s requirements to non-federal elections, while others have no such requirements. Because of this, the availability of accessible voting machines in local elections is not guaranteed and really depends on the state. This means that disabled voters don’t have equal access around the country to participate in local elections, elections that are critically important to our communities as they influence everything from school board makeup to local policy on the environment, housing, and more.
This legislation would build upon New Hampshire’s pilot program which provided accessible voting machines for local elections for six months. If passed, it will make the program permanent. It would go further to also invest in accessible voting systems, a critically important step as states and jurisdictions often don’t have the funds to buy updated election technology. This legislation now moves on to the Senate.
Connecticut bill would expand curbside voting availability (via Voting Rights Lab)
Connecticut SB 1516, introduced in March, would require curbside voting to be available at each polling place. Currently, Connecticut only allows voters who are “temporarily incapacitated” to use curbside voting, which means curbside voting is only available to those with a temporary illness or injury, and people with long-term or permanent disabilities or illnesses are excluded from using it. Connecticut is the only state I’ve found that only allows people who are temporarily incapacitated to use curbside voting while people with more permanent conditions are excluded.
SB 1516 would change that. It says that the registrars of voters must designate an area at every polling place “where any elector who is present at the polling place, but is unable to gain access to the polling place due to an incapacity” may be brought a ballot. The bill explicitly repeals the language of “temporary” incapacity. Needless to say this would be a welcome change. As I’ve said in the past, curbside voting is often necessary due to the architectural barriers that exist at polling places that make them inaccessible to voters with disabilities, and it is also useful for those with disabilities that make it challenging for them to leave the car to vote regardless of the accessibility of the polling place. Curbside voting should never be used as an excuse not to fix those accessibility barriers to the polling place, but it can be a useful option for many people with disabilities. Limiting curbside voting usage to people with temporary conditions means that those who need to use curbside voting for their permanent disabilities are unable to use this option. I’ll continue to track this legislation as it moves through the Senate, and hopefully it will move on to the House and eventually be passed.
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