Delaware Legal Aid Group Monitors Access to Polling Places for Disabled Voters on Election Day
Legal Services E-lert
Bibliographic Info:
Source: Dover Post, Disabilities Law Program to Monitor Accessibility of Voting Sites”
Date: November 1, 2010
The Dover Post writes: “The Disabilities Law Program [DLP] of [Delware’s] Community Legal Aid Society, Inc…[helped] enforce the Help America Vote Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act on Election Day, Nov. 2. ‘We want to ensure that people with disabilities have full participation in the election process, including accessing polling places so they can vote independently and privately,’ said Laura J. Waterland Esq., senior staff attorney with the DLP. According to a recent Office of Management and Budget study, in the 2008 general election, participation for voters with disabilities lagged nearly 10% behind voters without disabilities. The DLP [hoped] to shrink that discrepancy by eliminating barriers to polling places. . . . The DLP has been working with election officers to improve accessibility. DLP staff…conducted spot checks statewide during several prior elections, and…brought deficiencies to the attention of all three county Boards of Elections. DLP staff found barriers such as lack of designated accessible parking, sloping and eroded parking spaces and walkways, and unmarked accessible entrances. The Delaware Elections Commissioner’s Office and the county Boards of Elections have made many improvements to non-public polling places such as churches and fire halls. However, work is still needed to improve accessibility of public sites.”