As early voting is underway, a disability advocate wants to encourage people with disabilities — and election judges — to understand their rights.
“We do informational sessions in our office,” LIFE Center for Independent Living (Life CIL) Executive Director Rickielee Benecke said on WGLT's Sound Ideas. "We work closely with the (McLean County) League of Women Voters and we just try to educate everyone as much as we can so they know that their vote counts.”
Life CIL is hosting a lunch-and-learn with the McLean County League of Women Voters at noon Friday to discuss disability rights at the ballot box.
Benecke said there are still barriers in too many places that keep people with disabilities from voting.
“A lot of people have shied away from voting because they couldn’t get into the voting place – also with the misconception that ‘my vote doesn’t matter,’” Benecke said. “We’re trying to change that perception around saying, ‘Yes, people with disabilities, your vote matters. Your vote counts.’”
There are simple solutions available at voting stations for people with disabilities.
Solutions include instructional picture books for those with reading difficulties and headphones through which the ballot is read to them for those with hearing problems.
Benecke said curbside voting is also an option for those who cannot get out of their car to come into the voting station. Appointments must be made at least 24 hours in advance.
Benecke also spoke about an incident last March involving a voter with cerebral palsy who cast a provisional ballot.
Terri Evans and her son Tres’Von, who has cerebral palsy, had attempted to submit his ballot together. Evans was asked to provide guardianship documents and to then complete an affidavit afterward.
“Proving [guardianship] with all the documents was what was not necessary,” Bernecke said.
Evans had said that two weeks after the incident had occurred, McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael told her the election judge involved would not come back.
Benecke said the situation could have been handled better.
“More explanations about the affidavit would have been nice and having to find all those documents would not have been necessary,” Benecke said.
Benecke said that lack of voter education played a role in the incident.
“There have been many times in the past where we’ve had consumers of ours who have said, ‘Well I went to the polls and I had my helper because I could not physically [sign and vote] and we never had to sign anything,’” Bernecke said. “I think the judges are doing their part now and saying, ‘Yes, we need to make sure that these affidavits are signed.’ A little education beforehand would have been nice so people are not shocked when they go in.”
Benecke said Life CIL conducted an audit for Bloomington Election Commission voting sites ahead of this election. She said the audit led to improvements. For example, a polling site was moved from Miller Park Pavilion, which lacks disability access, to another location at Miller Park Zoo.
McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael, whose office oversees all elections in the county outside of Bloomington, said the office has also had an external audit of its polling sites and that it plans to use grant funding to assist those sites that need to make accessibility modifications.
