Fact Sheet: How the U.S. Election Assistance Commission Empowers Voters with Disabilities and the Election Officials who Serve Them
More then 35 million Americans with disabilities are eligible to vote in the United States. This accounts for a broad range of disabilities, including mobility, communicative, physical and cognitive impairments. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) has a strong commitment to working with both election officials and voters with disabilities to ensure that the election process, polling places and voting services are accessible. Read the fact sheet here.
EAC Commemorates the ADA by Hearing How to Make Voting More Accessible for Individuals with Disabilities
Commissioners met July 28, 2015 to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of ADA and explore ways to make voting more accessible for individuals with disabilities. Commissioners heard testimony from accessibility advocates, experts, and individuals with disabilities regarding the progress made to ensure HAVA’s requirement that individuals with disabilities be given the same opportunity to vote freely and independently as other voters. You can view the agenda documents and presentations here. The archived webcast and transcript are available here. Read the press release here.
Accessible Voting Technology Initiative
The EAC’s Accessible Voting Technology Initiative (AVTI) supports accessibility research on transformative technologies and approaches. Through the AVTI, the EAC has produced over 45 solutions for assisting voters with disabilities. The initiatives include the EAC’s Military Heroes grant to provide assistance needed for recently injured military personnel to participate in elections.
Resources for Voters with Disabilities
This comprehensive list of resources for voters with disabilities includes links to voting accessibility laws and regulations and the latest best practices and research pertaining to voters with disabilities and elderly voters.
Language Accessibility Resources
As mandated by the Help America Vote Act, the EAC Language Accessibility Program studies and promotes accessibility in voting, registration, polling places and voting equipment. The materials we issue are the product of collaboration among working groups comprising election officials, advocacy groups and research and public policy organizations.
The EAC's Language Accessibility Program has developed Glossaries of Election Terminology, Voter's Guides to Federal Elections and the National Mail Voter Registration Form. These resources are important in helping election officials provide translated voting materials at a lower cost.
Glossary of Election Terminology
Our glossaries are available in six languages: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, and Vietnamese. The glossaries contain 1,843 terms and phrases used in the administration of elections in the United States. To ensure the translations were culturally and linguistically appropriate, terms were translated and reviewed by a multi-dialect team of translators representing the main regions of each language. For example, the Spanish to English Glossary was produced by teams represented from four of the main regions of origin of the Hispanic population living in the U.S: Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Central America.
Voter's Guide to Federal Elections
Our voter's guide is available in eleven languages: Cherokee, Chinese, Dakota, English, Japanese, Korean, Navajo, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Yupik. It is designed to help voters successfully navigate the federal elections process, from registering to vote to casting a ballot on Election Day. In addition to the basics of ballot-casting, it also includes information on eligibility and early voting, as well as the registration and voting process for military and civilians living abroad, and polling place services that make voting more accessible.
Translating the National Mail Voter Registration Form
EAC has translated the National Mail Voter Registration form into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese. The links below contain additional information about this work.