Voting Tips for the Blind & Visually Impaired
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someone putting a ballot in a white box that says “vote” with white text underneath “Voting tips for those who are blind and visually impaired”
Voting Tips for the Blind & Visually Impaired
With election season right around the corner, and our video showcasing accessible voting machines, we wanted to share some tips for voting when you are blind or visually impaired. For someone without a disability, voting is a fairly simple task. You go to your designated voting site, check in, and then get to voting! But for people with disabilities, this can be a bit of trickier process, especially if you are new to blindness. But in today’s blog post, we’ve got you covered in how to succeed when it comes to voting as someone who is blind or visually impaired!
Request a Demo and Check Accessibility Options
As we showed in our video of accessible voting machines, you can ask your local voter commission for a demo of the voting machine! While you may want to wait until election season is over (or before election season) to request a demo, they should be happy to provide one. We have also heard of different states providing different accessibility features such as an ADA compliant phone registration to submit your ballot. It can just depend on the state! Be sure to check with your local voter commission.
Ask for Help from the Volunteers, not your friend!
While it can be tempting to just ask your friend for help when it comes to voting, don’t forget the volunteers are there to help you! Voting is a personal decision and your friends don’t need to know who you vote for! As someone with a disability, you are still allowed that autonomy and freedom to confidentiality when it comes to voting.
Bring Headphones
When using the accessible voting machines, it is important to have headphones! While they might have headphones there, it’s not always a guarantee, so it is important to remember your own pair.
Set up your ride beforehand
We know too well that transportation can be a big issue when it comes to voting, especially for the blind and visually impaired. One tip is to set up your transportation beforehand, whether that is scheduling paratransit, scheduling a rideshare service, or even grabbing a ride from a friend. Uber oftentimes has free rides to go vote as well, so that is definitely something to keep a look out for in the future on big election days!
Absentee Ballot
If transportation is an even bigger issue for you, perhaps you live somewhere more rural, another option is requesting an absentee ballot. Some states even allow you to request absentee ballots for the entire election cycle as someone with a disability. Again, this is just something you will want to check with your local voter commission to make sure.