How tech is boosting the turnout of disabled voters
Disabled people face obstacles throughout the voting process: paper registration forms, inaccessible polling places, and ballot-casting machines that require sight and dexterity.
In 2020, as COVID-19 raced through the country, several states expanded voting options in the general election in order to keep people safe, allowing more mail-in and early voting. Electronic voting was opened up to people with disabilities. Turnout among disabled voters surged.
But no voting system is 100% secure.
Marketplace’s Kimberly Adams recently spoke with Michelle Bishop, voter access and engagement manager at the National Disability Rights Network, about balancing the technology that provides access to all voters with the acceptable security risks, and separating that from misinformation.
This conversation is part of “Marketplace Tech’s” limited series “Decoding Democracy.” Watch the full episode here or on our YouTube channel.
More on everything we talked about
List of states allowing electronic ballot return from the National Conference of State Legislatures
“Disability and Voter Turnout in the 2022 Elections” from the Election Assistance Commission and Rutgers University
“Elections Have Gotten More Accessible for Disabled Voters, but Gaps Remain” from The New York Times
“Voters with disabilities are feeling ignored by presidential candidates” from the Associated Press
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