Ahead of the November election, blind voters and advocacy groups that represent people with disabilities are suing Texas over its mail-in ballot system that they argue limits their ability to participate independently.
In a federal lawsuit filed Friday in Austin, three voters, the National Federation of the Blind of Texas, and the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities argue that Texas’ mail-in ballot system discriminates against voters with disabilities and violates provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act of 1973 — both which prohibit discrimination based on disability.
In Texas, voters must fill out a paper mail-in ballot, which plaintiffs argue is inaccessible to voters with disabilities and requires assistance that may not be feasible to coordinate safely amid the pandemic.
The lawsuit seeks for Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs to overhaul the state’s mail-in ballot request system by establishing a remote and accessible one across counties for future elections. A spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office declined to comment Monday.
“Sadly, Texas is choosing to disenfranchise blind voters and violating the law,” Norma Crosby, the president of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas, said in a statement Friday. “Blind Texans will not tolerate being treated as second-class citizens.”
In order to qualify to vote by mail under Texas law, voters must submit an application and be 65 or older, disabled, out of the county on Election Day and during in-person early voting, or confined in jail.
However, for some voters with disabilities or low vision, filling out a mail-in ballot cannot be done independently as the ballots are “transmitted, marked, and returned entirely on paper.” And with the novel coronavirus still spreading in Texas, the lawsuit alleges that seeking assistance to fill out the ballot will jeopardize voters’ health and safety.
And if voting in-person, it will be especially difficult for disabled voters to remain six feet from others if they need assistance, the lawsuit argues.
“Individuals with disabilities who cannot drive disproportionately rely on public transportation services, which necessarily brings them into close proximity with others, thereby increasing the risk of contracting COVID-19,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit also notes that members of the military and overseas voters are already permitted to have their ballots delivered electronically by email — a method that is not extended to voters with disabilities.
Advocacy organizations have reached out to the Secretary of State’s office multiple times about the requirements under federal law and how to make the mail-in voting process more accessible, according to the lawsuit.
In a July 2 letter, the voters and organizations suing the state noted that the Secretary of State cannot prohibit counties from making their systems more accessible. However, in a July 14 letter in response, counsel for Hughs indicated that she “did not believe federal law required her to ensure blind voters and voters with print disabilities could access mail-in ballots, that she did not think it was allowed under Texas law, and that she did not think it was feasible to implement in counties across Texas,” according to the lawsuit.
Blind and visually impaired voters have faced barriers to voting independently in Tarrant County in the past, when new voting machines weren’t working, lacked the necessary aids or were difficult to work with.
“There is plenty of time to allow Texas to make mail-in ballots accessible in time for the upcoming elections on November 3, 2020,” Lia Davis, a senior attorney at Disability Rights Texas, said in a statement. “People who are blind have a right to use the mail-in ballot option, and they should not be unnecessarily exposed to the COVID-19 virus at the polls.”
Meanwhile, the pandemic has caused some blind voters and voters with disabilities to forgo voting this year due to the possible risks to their health.