MADISON, Wis. — State and federal laws guarantee voting rights for people with disabilities. However, barriers to casting a ballot, whether intentional or not, still exist for many Wisconsinites.
This week marks Disability Voting Rights Week, and for those Wisconsinites with a disability, many are celebrating a recent win after a federal judge ruled that they can get help returning their ballot.
“The implementation of this decision is one example of how we intend to ensure the voices of disabled people are heard, and that their votes are cast and counted,” Madison Satya Rhodes-Conway said during an event recognizing Disability Voting Rights Week.
City leaders and disability rights advocates gathered Thursday at the City County Building in Madison with the hopes of raising awareness.
“The barriers that face those of us with disabilities to be able to cast our ballot, and to have it counted, are pervasive and persistent,” Denise Jess with Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired said. “Our ask is that we all collectively work to educate our legislature, especially our new legislators as they come in in the fall.”
Law requires every polling place to have accessible voting equipment, but those accommodations often aren't set up and ready to go. For those who can't leave home and instead vote absentee, looming legal battles can bring a lot of uncertainty.
“Our state law, for whatever reason, has not caught up with the federal standards and societal expectations as it relates to individuals with disabilities,” State Rep. David Steffen (R-Howard) said. “The state Supreme Court, they actually interpreted it correctly. It does clearly state that only the voter is allowed to turn in a ballot. And remember that law, that very specific clause in our state statutes, was drafted in the early '80s. There wasn't even the attention or sensitivity to the disability community as there was in the '90s and certainly now.”
Steffen said he plans to introduce legislation in January to make sure the recent ruling allowing ballot return assistance by a federal circuit court, along with other guaranteed voting rights, are mirrored in Wisconsin state law.
“All individuals who are disabled no longer have to worry about a court decision being overturned, stayed, challenged," Steffen said. "We're going to put it into state law and be done with this issue."
His proposal would also allow family members of a voter to assist with absentee ballot handling.
Steffen plans to release a draft of his legislation for review and public input in the next 90 days.