NY Settled Lawsuit With Voters With Disabilities

The New York Board of Elections, has settled a Lawsuit with Voters with Disabilities.

Under the New terms, the State Board has until June 1st, to create an Electronic Voting Method, that will allow Voters with Disabilities that make Reading or Writing Text difficult, such as Blindness or Paralysis, to Request Ballots Online and Mail them back.

“Through this agreement, the New York State Board of Elections has made it easier for people with print disabilities to vote with greater privacy and independence,” said Timothy A. Clune, Executive Director of Disability Rights New York, in a Statement.

The Original Complaint, filed in May 2020, said Voters with Disabilities who did Not want to Vote In-Person out of Fear of contracting Covid-19, were being Excluded from Absentee Voting because they were unable to Independently Fill-Out Paper Ballots.

Once the New system is in place, Voters with Disabilities will be able to Request Ballots from their Local Election Boards up to 15 days before any Election.

These Ballots will come with Postage-Paid Return Envelopes and “oath envelopes” that will feature Raised Markers indicating where Voters with Visual Impairments can Sign their Names, though the Board will accept Signatures written anywhere on the Envelopes.

The New system will also allow Voters with Disabilities to Mark their Ballots Electronically, with the help of Computer Software that describes Text and Images in Sound. Marked Ballots can then be Printed and Mailed.

The Settlement requires the Board to pay $400,000 in Lawyer Fees to those who Sued.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker