| 词条 | Suffrage for Americans with Disabilities |
| 释义 |
According to Abilities United, over 16% of Americans are considered to have either a physical, developmental, or learning disability.[1] The barriers that 33.7 million persons with disabilities face within the American electoral process include access to polling information, physical access to polls, current and future laws that deal with the topic, and the moral implications regarding the varying levels of both physical and cognitive disabilities and the act of voting.[2] {{Disability}}Denotation and categorizationThe term "disability" has a wide range of connotations and associations. Webster's Dictionary defines it as: {{quote|A condition (such as an illness or injury) that damages or limits a person's physical or mental abilities.[3]}}The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as: {{quote|A physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.[4]}}The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission further explores the characterization of "disability" within its Guidance outlines. The Commission outlines three ways in which an individual can demonstrate their disability:[5]
Originally signed into law in 1990 and since amended in 2004, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) set a significant precedent in categorizing disability. IDEA outlined 13 distinct categories of disabilities. Though the categories apply under law to individuals between the ages of 3 and 21, they have served as one of the few examples of the federalization of disability categorizations. They include:[6]
Political engagementMultiple sources report that persons with disabilities comprise one of the most disenfranchised groups within American society.[7] As a result, Americans with both physical and cognitive disabilities are amongst the least politically engaged members of the electorate. For example, during the 2012 election cycle, 11% fewer persons with disabilities turned out to vote than their nondisabled counterparts.[7] According to a 2013 report penned by Rutgers University professor Lisa Schur, as many as three million more citizens with disabilities would have turned out to vote had they voted at the same rate as non-disabled citizens.[1] Accessibility to pollsVoter identification laws greatly impact accessibility to polls for persons with disabilities. As the largest population of citizens without drivers licenses, persons with both physical and cognitive disabilities face the obstacle of strict identification laws at polling places within some states.[1] Within stricter states, many disabled persons who do not have physical identification cards are required to submit absentee ballots.[8] The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) provides a web page with ID requirements for voting in each state, and those with the strictest requirements often present the largest challenges to disabled Americans.[9] A leading theory that attempts to explain the lack of political engagement within disabled communities deals primarily with access to polling places. In fact, many polling places are considered to be nearly entirely inaccessible to persons with disabilities.[2] To this end, within the past several years, the Federal Election Commission has reported that more than 20,000 polling places across the nation are not fully accessible for disabled individuals, and in 1999, the New York Attorney General fewer than 10% of upstate polling facilities were fully compliant with state and federal laws.[2] The failure to comply with state and federal laws can manifest itself in many ways, but it typically results in a lack of functional wheelchair ramps, sparse placement of handicapped entrance signs, and generally inaccessible physical voting booths.[7] As a result, resources and physical aides such as "Help America Vote Act"-mandated voting machines are utilized for federal elections and aim to assist persons with disabilities.[1] One of the most popularly utilized methods of combatting these problems in recent years has manifested itself in the utilization of electronic voting machines. Because "punch card" and "lever" voting machines are often inaccessible to many parts of the disabled community, adaptive technology has been applied to many traditional devices, and many different kinds of accessible machines have been developed. Legislation like the Help America Vote Act has required that at least one accessible machine be available at each polling place.[10] {{See also|Electronic Voting}}Contemporary laws protecting suffrage for people with disabilitiesBoth state and federal legislatures have enacted thousands of pages of legislation regarding the rights of Americans with disabilities. Several major "landmark" pieces of legislation have served as models. Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act
| shorttitle= Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 | othershorttitles=ADA | longtitle= An act to establish a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability | colloquialacronym= ADA | enacted by= 101st | effective date= July 26, 1990}} Americans with Disabilities ActPassed into law in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (or "ADA") is widely considered to be the first major attempt to define the rights of disabled Americans at a federal level. Signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, the act prohibits discrimination based on disability. Though the ADA is wide-ranging in scope, it has had many lasting effects on the suffrage of disabled Americans. Some of the most prominent changes that resulted from the legislation included calls for accessibility within polling stations. This effort to increase accessibility has led to the establishment of mandatory accessible parking, passenger drop off areas, and building entrances at polling places.[12] {{listen|title=Remarks on the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (July 26, 1990) |filename=George HW Bush Americans with Disabilities Act.ogg |description =George H. W. Bush's July 26, 1990 Remarks on the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act | format = Ogg | type = speech }} Help America Vote ActPassed into law in 2002, the Help America Vote Act ("HAVA") creates "mandatory minimum standards for states to follow in several key areas of election administration."[13] Passing both federal legislatures with bipartisan support, the Act authorized the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make polling places accessible to persons with disabilities. The legislation has a particularly sharp focus on individuals affected by visual impairments, and requires each polling station to have to at least one disability-accessible voting machine per federal election.[13] The Act has three main goals:[13]
Critics of the Act claim that its reach should be expanded to more than solely federal elections. While states receive funding for disability-accessible touchscreen electronic voting machines under HAVA, municipalities such as cities and towns do not directly receive funding. As a result, critics claim that the machines are not evenly distributed.[14] National Voter Registration ActPassed into law in 1993, the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 attempted to increase the historically low registration rates of minorities and persons with disabilities by requiring both federal and state agencies to assist in voter registration procedures.[11] Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons ActPassed into law in 1980, the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act protects the rights of persons in jails, publicly operated nursing homes, and institutions for people with psychiatric or developmental disabilities.[11] Voting Rights ActOriginally passed into law in 1965 to combat racial discrimination at polling places, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has recently supported advances of disabled suffrage. Section 208 of the Act allows citizens affected by "blindness, disability, or the inability to read or write" to assign an individual to help cast votes within a ballot box.[15] Restrictions on the assignment of said individual include the voter's employer or agent of their union.[15] Contemporary laws restricting suffrage for people with disabilitiesIn some states, people who are deemed mentally incompetent are not allowed to vote.[16][17] In the conservatorship process, people can lose their right to vote.[18] See also
References1. ^1 2 3 {{cite web|title=Voters with Disabilities|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/04/voters-with-disabilities_n_6102132.html}} 2. ^1 2 {{cite web|url=http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/voting/ |title=Voting and People with Disabilities |publisher=Accessiblesociety.org |date= |accessdate=2015-10-28}} 3. ^{{cite web|title=Disability, Webster|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disability}} 4. ^{{cite web|title=Oxford, Disability|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/disability}} 5. ^{{cite web|title=US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission|url=http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/disability.cfm}} 6. ^{{cite web|title=Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)|url=http://www.parentcenterhub.org/wp-content/uploads/repo_items/gr3.pdf}} 7. ^1 2 {{cite web|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2012-08-09/disabled-voters-lack-access-motivation/56922154/1 |title=Study shows voters with disabilities face access barriers – USATODAY.com |publisher=Usatoday30.usatoday.com |date= |accessdate=2015-10-28}} 8. ^{{cite web|title=Voter ID|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/10/29/this-is-what-its-like-to-try-to-get-a-voter-id-when-youre-disabled-poor-or-dont-drive/}} 9. ^{{cite web|url=http://www.ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/voter-id.aspx|publisher=National Conference of State Legislatures|date=October 21, 2014|title=Voter ID: State Requirements}} 10. ^{{cite web|title=Electronic Frontier Foundation|url=https://www.eff.org/wp/accessibility-and-auditability-electronic-voting}} 11. ^1 2 {{cite web|title=Legislation for Persons with Disabilities|url=http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm#anchor64292}} 12. ^{{cite web|title=Americans with Disabilities Act|url=http://www.ada.gov/votingchecklist.htm}} 13. ^1 2 {{cite web|title=Help America Vote Act|url=http://www.eac.gov/about_the_eac/help_america_vote_act.aspx}} 14. ^{{cite web|last1=Rick Malley "HAVA" Case|url=http://homernews.com/homer-news/local-news/2015-10-29/blind-man-files-rights-complaint}} 15. ^1 {{cite web|title=Voting Rights Act|url=http://www.justice.gov/crt/statutes-enforced-voting-section}} 16. ^{{cite news|last1=Leonard|first1=Kimberly|title=Keeping the 'Mentally Incompetent' From Voting|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/10/keeping-the-mentally-incompetent-from-voting/263748/|accessdate=29 May 2018|publisher=The Atlantic|date=17 October 2012}} 17. ^{{cite news |last1=Pan |first1=Deanna |title=Protecting the Voting Rights Of People With Mental Disabilities |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/11/voting-rights-mental-disabilities/ |accessdate=16 July 2018 |publisher=Mother Jones |date=5 November 2012}} 18. ^{{cite news|title=Thousands Lose Right To Vote Under 'Incompetence' Laws|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/thousands-lose-right-to-vote-under-incompetence-laws_us_5ab25f7ce4b004fe24699810|accessdate=29 May 2018|date=21 March 2018}} 3 : History of voting rights in the United States|Disability in the United States|Disability rights |
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