Part 2 of this article from Stateline..
In a predominantly rural and mountainous state, transportation options are limited, said Susan Given, the executive director of Disability Rights of West Virginia. Polling places in the state's 55 counties are spread out and often located in outdated buildings that aren't accessible to people with disabilities.
People with disabilities who can't get into polling places often have to vote curbside with assistance from a poll worker, Given said.. robbing the voter of a private and independent ballot.
The organization also gets complaints that machines for voters with disabilities often don't work or are turning off, following a similar national pattern.
Recently, Disability Rights of West Virginia hired an advocate who will visit polling places this year to see whether they are accessible. The organization also holds outreach events at high schools, psychiatric hospitals, homeless shelters and service providers to explain the voting rights of people with disabilities.
Voter participation among West Virginians with disabilities did go up by 3 percentage points since the 2012 election. But, Desmond said, the state has a long way to go.
In Colorado, where 69 percent of registered voters with disabilities voted in 2016- among the highest rates in the country- advocates and state officials have taken numerous steps to make voting accessible, according to Jennifer Levin, a senior attorney at Disability Law Colorado.
In the decade following the passage of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA), Disability Law Colorado went to all 64 counties in the state, met with clerks, checked for accessibility barriers, and used state funding to help polling places meet federal HAVA and Americans with Disabilities Act standards. (Nationwide, physical barriers to voting places have steadily dropped since 2000, according to the GAO.)
Now after every election, the secretary of state releases a county-by-county audit on whether localities are meeting standards for accessible polling places. After the 2016 election, for example, Denver satisfied a majority of disability access criteria, while El Paso County, home to Colorado Springs, met every one. Because of this enforcement, Levin said, accessibility shortcomings in the state are rare.
In 2015, her organization again partnered with the secretary of state's office to test five new voting machines. After collecting data, officials settled on one machine that every county will use for voters with disabilities. Now, voters can choose to use a paper ballot or an accessible machine ballot.
The state's adoption of vote-by-mail and automatic voter registration for all voters also has made it easier for people with disabilities to cast their ballots.
Other states have taken similar measures. Before the 2016 election, New Hampshire adopted a new tablet-based voting system for the blind, while Rhode Island recently became the ninth state to enact automatic voter registration- which eliminates the need for people with disabilities to submit paper forms that are not accessible to them.
Levin finds poll workers are still afraid of new technology. "We get complaints where a person walks in and asks to use the machine, and a worker says, "It doesn't look like you need it,' Levin said. "They were discouraged and intimidated by it."
City officials in Washington, D.C. said they had poll workers ask every voter whether they want to use a paper ballot or a machine, taking away any excuse for unplugged machines or untrained worker. But several polling places still fall short, according to a 2016 survey by Disability Rights DC at University Legal Services, a nonprofit advocacy organization.
Some states are trying to bridge the access gap through legislation. In New York state, where the voter participation rate among people with disabilities is 48.8 percent, Senate Democrats in January introduced 13 voter-focused pieces of legislation. One bill would redesign paper ballots to be more readable. Another, written by state Sen. Michael Gianaris, would allow the distribution of voter registration forms at offices that provide services to people with disabilities, while also allowing voters to change their precinct to one whose voting systems are more accessible.
"We're looking for ways to make voting easier at a time when people are trying to make voting harder," said Gianaris, a Queens Democrat. "Our record for voter participation is abysmal.The fight we're having right now is to open up the process."
Hoell, now the executive director of Nebraska's independent living council, which advocates for independent living among people with disabilities, said she was tired of facing obstacles.
"Part of my way of dealing with these things is I just go to the top and start yelling," Hoell said. After HAVA was enacted, Hoell went to John Gale, Nebraska's secretary of state, to persuade him to invest in accessible voting machines, better train poll workers, and make polling stations compliant with federal disabilities regulations.
In the years since, she said, his office has found ways to include people with disabilities in the voting process.
As a result, according to the Rutgers study, Nebraska has the highest voter participation rate among persons with disabilities in the country, at more than 70 percent.
Stateline is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news service of the Pew Charitable Trusts that provides daily reporting and analysis on trends in state policy.
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