New York • modern elections

Denise McQuade

Disability access

Role-play summaryBecause I use a wheelchair after childhood polio, I know access is not automatic. I would argue polling places and voting systems must be fully accessible for disabled voters.

What forces are at play?

A voter can be fully eligible and still be excluded by stairs, steep ramps, narrow doors, inaccessible voting machines, or a polling layout that requires assistance. Federal disability law and election law establish accessibility protections, but compliance can vary from site to site, especially when polling locations are borrowed spaces such as churches or community buildings.

How can this shape elections?

Absentee voting can be an important option, but it does not erase the right to vote in person privately and independently. Election design affects whether disabled voters have the same range of choices as everyone else. Accessibility therefore includes physical space, ballot-marking technology, communication, transportation, and trained poll workers.

Carry these questions into the activity

What rule, barrier, or source of power matters most from this person’s point of view?
Who gains political voice — and who loses it — because of the way the election system works here?