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Voting

New election laws could create barriers for voters with disabilities

  • Advocates fear new voting restrictions could disproportionately impact people with disabilities.
  • One study found the share of people with disabilities who reported voting problems dropped in 2020 because of pandemic-fueled election changes that made it easier to vote.
  • In 2021 alone, elected officials in 19 states – including Arizona, Texas, Georgia and Florida – adopted new voting restrictions, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

WASHINGTON – Teri Saltzman said she took her time to look over her ballot at home in Pflugerville, Texas, during the state's recent primary, using special glasses that magnified the small print.

But Saltzman, who is legally blind, still missed the lines on the envelope flap that required her to fill in identification numbers needed for election officials to count her vote.

“To this day, I am unsure that my vote was counted,” said Saltzman, 59.

The addition of the lines was among the election changes lawmakers approved last year in Texas – one of several states where advocates say new laws could have an outsized effect on voters with disabilities. They worry that stricter identification requirements, restrictions on voting by mail, reducing the number of drop boxes and other changes could hurt access for people with disabilities in local and midterm elections.

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