People with Disabilities Knock on the Back Door of Democracy

United Cerebral Palsy Associations
Thursday, 2 August 2001

Support S. 565, the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001

Washington, DC - August 2, 2001 - UCP--one of the nation's largest organizations serving people with disabilities and their families -- calls upon the U.S. Senate Rules Committee to mark up S.565, the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001 without weakening amendments. This important mark up comes just one week after the 11th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

"This bill provides an historic opportunity to strengthen and expand the voting rights of all Americans, particularly those with disabilities," said Kirsten A. Nyrop, UCP's Executive Director. She continued, "The Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001 guarantees access to the polls and a secret ballot for all voters, including those with disabilities. For too long, people with disabilities have had to allow total strangers to follow them into the voting booth to assist them to vote or they have been forced to vote at the curbside for lack of access to polling places. The Dodd bill would require voting systems to provide the same degree of independence and privacy to voters with disabilities as for all other voters. We strongly urge that it be reported out to the full Senate, in its current form."

National surveys show that 81 percent of voters who are visually impaired must rely on others to mark their ballots, despite the affordability of voting machines that permit them to cast a secret ballot. Moreover, only about 20,000 of the nation's 170,000 polling places are accessible to voters who use wheelchairs.

"The time to put an end to the indignity of having to vote at the back door of democracy is now," said Bob Williams, UCP Senior Public Policy Advisor. "The passage of universal Federal voting rights legislation that guarantees access to national elections to all Americans is absolutely essential to achieving this vital objective."

There are numerous bills in Congress aimed at improving one or more features of our electoral system. But, the Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2001 is the only one that would guarantee access to the polls and a secret ballot for all voters, including those with disabilities. It would do this by requiring that voting systems afford the same degree of independence and privacy to voters with disabilities and those who are language minorities as for all others and by setting additional reasonable standards for fair and reliable elections.

UCP provides programs and services to advance the independence, productivity and full citizenship of children and adults with cerebral palsy and other disabilities and their families through 112 affiliates in 43 States. Nothing is more central to achieving the full citizenship of the 54 million Americans with disabilities than guaranteeing that all Americans have equal access to the polls by the time of the 2002 and 2004 general elections.

For more information, or to contact United Cerebral Palsy Associations, see their website at: www.ucpa.org