Making Voting Accessible to Everyone

The movement in some states to limit mail-in voting is making it harder for some people with disabilities to access polls, reports Julia Métraux in Mother Jones.

“Scheduling paratransit to the polls is one option—but in rural areas, that can also be more challenging than it should, says Michelle Bishop, manager of voter access at the National Disability Rights Network.” For voters with disabilities, Uber and Lyft are often unreliable options, if they exist at all. “A 2018 report from New York Lawyers for the Public Interest found that, when requested, barely half of New York City riders received accessible vehicles from Uber—and below five percent for Lyft.”

Nonprofit organizations like RideShare2Vote and the NAACP are working to provide transportation to polls. According to Michelle Bishop of the National Disability Rights Network, the nation needs a voting system “where we have just a whole menu of options for voters, and they can figure out what makes it work for them.”