Blind and visually impaired voters will face discrimination and difficult choices in the 2020 elections, a new lawsuit claims, unless North Carolina acts quickly to improve options for voting by mail.
North Carolina has specialized voting machines for people with disabilities who vote at any polling place around the state. But this year, the coronavirus pandemic is expected to lead to a massive increase in voting by mail. And the only option for that is a paper ballot.
Having only a paper ballot for mail-in voting, the new lawsuit says, means that unless they want to risk their health to vote in person, blind voters will be forced to not only tell someone else who they’d like to vote for, but also trust that person to actually fill out their ballot.
“Ensuring that absentee voting is made accessible for blind voters is particularly important because citizens with disabilities already face many barriers to full and equal participation in the voting process, in contrast with sighted voters,” the lawsuit says.
Nearly 300,000 North Carolinians had a visual disability as of 2016, according to the National Federation of the Blind — close to 3% of the state’s population.
The N.C. State Board of Elections has previously been in contact with one of the groups that sued. State Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell sent them a letter last month addressing some of their concerns — including the question of getting a trusted person to help them fill out an absentee ballot.
She said anyone who wants help with a mail-in ballot “may request assistance from a Multipartisan Assistance Team (MAT), a team of bipartisan volunteers trained and authorized by the county board of elections.”
And while there are strict rules in place for most voters when it comes to getting outside help requesting an absentee ballot or mailing it in once it has been filled out, state law does have exemptions for voters who are blind or have another disability.
Brinson Bell also noted the availability of specialized voting machines for voters with disabilities at polling places. And North Carolina’s election website, ncsbe.gov, is scheduled to be revamped by the end of August, she said, in large part to be more accessible to people with disabilities who are trying to get more information about the state’s elections.
“The State Board is committed to promoting accessibility for voters with disability, including blind voters,” Brinson Bell said.
But the people and groups who filed the lawsuit disagree. They say the state’s voting system discriminates against people with disabilities.