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How voters with disabilities are being blocked from the ballot

Elderly and disabled people can get priority placement in line for early voting at C.T. Martin Natatorium and Recreation Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
Elderly and disabled people can get priority placement in line for early voting at C.T. Martin Natatorium and Recreation Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

It’s election day.

You may be going or have already gone to your local polling station. You might have voted by mail. Or maybe you even placed your ballot in a drop box. But for one in four Americans who live with a disability, the act of voting may not be all that simple. 

A report from the Government Accountability Office found that 60 percent of U.S. polling stations featured an inaccessible area. And 65 percent also used a voting system that could impede disabled Americans from casting a ballot.  

In 2020, an increase in the usage of alternative voting systems caused a surge in voter turnout. Nearly 18 million people with disabilities voted during the presidential election.

Since then, some states have restricted those alternative methods.How has that affected voters with disabilities this year?  

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Michelle Harven