Yesterday was Election Day in the United States. Across the country, disabled people cast their ballots, taking part in a process that is supposed to belong equally to everyone. However, for many disabled voters, accessing the ballot box remains complicated.
In Central New York, disabled people continue to encounter barriers to voting. In 2026, the Center for American Progress gave New York an overall voting accessibility score of 3 out of 5, slightly below the national score of 3.3. The state scored 4.1 for voting by mail, while in-person voting and voting information each received a 2.5.
The difference between those scores says something important about accessibility. Having one accessible way to vote does not necessarily make the entire voting process accessible.
Last week, I voted in the 2026 election using Massachusetts’s accessible electronic ballot system. I was able to complete my ballot independently without worrying about whether someone would be able to read my handwriting. That matters to me, because it is part of my independence.
I have cerebral palsy, which affects my fine motor skills. I can write, but my handwriting is difficult to read. I rarely write anything by hand anymore. An accessible electronic ballot meant that something as ordinary as handwriting did not become a barrier between me and my vote.
“I want to get more people to feel comfortable with voting in person, and the thing is, there are multiple reasons for that,” said Tina Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is a wheelchair user and polling site manager for the Onondaga County Board of Elections.
Fitzgerald also emphasized the importance of disabled people being visible in their communities. Voting in person can be more than the act of filling out a ballot. It can be another way disabled people participate in life alongside their neighbors, rather than remaining excluded from spaces that were supposed to include them all along.
The barriers are not unique to New York. An April WDET report highlighted accessibility problems at polling places in Metro Detroit, where Detroit Disability Power audited locations during the 2025 elections. Only 10 percent of the polling places assessed were fully accessible. That figure had fallen from 13 percent in its report covering the 2024 elections and 16 percent in its report covering 2022. The organization has audited more than 1,000 polling places across Metro Detroit.
When inaccessible polling places appear year after year, the problem becomes difficult to describe as an oversight. People can have the right to vote. However, that right can still be difficult to exercise in everyday life.
Even when accessible equipment is available, gaps can remain. Susan Gray, who is blind, successfully used a ClearVote ballot-marking machine during early voting in Onondaga County. She said a poll worker told her she was the first blind person in three years to use the machine at that site.
Mail in voting remains an important option, and for some disabled voters, it may be the easiest way to participate. But an accessible democracy should not require disabled people to depend on one voting method because another method comes with additional barriers.
Real accessibility allows for choice. Disabled voters should be able to vote from home, vote early, or enter their neighborhood polling place and cast a ballot privately and independently.
The right to vote should include the right to choose how that participation looks. Disabled people deserve more than one accessible path to democracy. Every door to democracy should be open.
Sources:
Ald, Mason. “Disabled Voters Continue to Face Barriers in CNY amid Record Turnouts.” WSYR-TV, 3 Nov. 2026. https://www.localsyr.com/news/your-local-election-hq/cny-disabled-voters/amp/
Vincent, Robyn. “The Metro: Michigan Law Guarantees Disabled Voters Equal Access to the Polls. A New Report Shows That Rarely Happens.” WDET, 8 Apr. 2026. https://wdet.org/2026/04/08/the-metro-michigan-law-guarantees-disabled-voters-equal-access-to-the-polls-a-new-report-shows-that-rarely-happens/