Veronica Stracqualursi, CNN

US Marine Corps field radio correspondent Joanna Sweat, deployed in Iraq in 2003, hid in a narrowly spaced bunker for hours at a time. This is a stressful service tour of being in a war zone leading to blood coagulation disorders.

More than 10 years after she was first diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and medically discharged from the Marine Corps, the 43-year-old she mailed Arizona, who granted access to the ballot box last November. Allows voting system by.

“Long lines aren’t practical for me,” she said.

Sweat and members of disability advocacy groups across the country, who are lead underwriters of the progressive veteran organization Common Defense, say the Democratic Party’s radical election overhaul bill in Congress is the key to increasing voting access for people with disabilities.

NS “For people’s law, A part of the law at the center of Battle of federal voting rights Capitol Hill aims to help voters control voting by mail, thereby countering Republican-controlled states pushing for voting restrictions.

In the November 2020 elections, nearly 62% of voters with disabilities cast ballots. report “Voters with disabilities faced particularly serious challenges,” said the Center for American Progress this month, although many had a hard time voting during the pandemic.

according to June 2020 Report About a quarter of more than 4 million veterans, or all veterans, of the U.S. Census Bureau will have visual, auditory, mobility, cognitive function, independent living, self-care difficulties, etc. in 2018. Reported a failure. The result of their military service.

Veterans with disabilities “rely on mail-voting, early voting, and countless other votes for democracy to access and succeed, regardless of disability,” a common defense in favor of the bill. Told CNN in a statement.

And while these measures “became more widely available during the 2020 elections,” the group needs federal law to protect it from restrictive voting legislation pushed out at the state level. Said.

“That’s what they fought, what we fought, that’s what we endorse, and the right to vote,” said a former Army Nursing veteran of the Common Defense in West Virginia. Genie McNeill, also and organizer, said.

What does the bill do

“People’s Law” guarantees the right of persons with disabilities to vote in absentee ballots and use the absentee registration process in federal elections.It also gives disabled voters access to the ballot dropbox and makes it a polling place. A “sufficient number” voting system equipped to serve people with and without disabilities.

Under this bill, the state must set up a process that allows voters with disabilities to submit their voter registration and absentee ballot applications by mail or electronically.

The state also needs to establish an office responsible for providing information on voting registration and absentee ballot procedures to persons with disabilities, and at least one means of electronic communication for persons with disabilities to request these applications. there is.

The law will also expand and reapprove grant programs aimed at making polling place and home voting more accessible to the disabled community. The bill provides the state with funding for a pilot program that allows people with disabilities to register using the Internet or other electronic means to vote and request absentee ballots.

Erika Hudson, senior public policy analyst at the National Disability Rights Network, said voters with disabilities encounter polling stations without accessible voting machines and vote for workers who don’t know how to vote. Said that there was something.

In addition, the email voting system may not be available to people who are blind, have poor eyesight, or have impaired dexterity.

In some cases, veterans with disabilities may have difficulty reading and marking ballots with pens and markers. In others, post-traumatic stress disorder veterans could face crowds and loud noise triggers, Heather Ansley, Deputy Secretary-General of Government Relations for U.S. Paralyzed Veterans, told CNN. Told.

Veterans with traumatic brain injury may find it difficult to navigate the process, and veterans with such unclear disabilities may not consider seeking help.

Proponents warn against mandatory paper voting

While some of the more than 800-page legislation on disabled voters has gained a lot of support from the community, many national advocates have warned of provisions that require paper ballots. increase.

20 disability organizations in January Prompted to lawmakers Exempt people with disabilities from the obligation of paper ballots.

As part of that obligation, the bill will require that paper ballots made through ballot marking devices be “clearly readable” by a device equipped for voters or disabled voters. ..

But checking paper ballots after electronic voting told CNN.

According to Hudson, disability organizations have been discussing their mission with parliamentary staff since December and are working with lawmakers to add research and development to a voting system that has access to Senate and House bills.

Maria Town, president of the American Association of Persons with Disabilities, emphasized that disability defenders also want safe elections.

CNN is seeking comment from the main sponsor of the bill.

Limbo legislation

“People’s law” has been stalled in the US Senate after being shot down by Republicans in a major test vote last month. Passing the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives..

Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat in West Virginia, has been at the center of the voting rights conversation for weeks thanks to him. Opposed to eliminate filibuster — A move that allows Democrats to pass the bill without Republican support.

Manchin Next step said Includes putting together a simplified bill that focuses solely on the protection of voting rights and voting procedures. It was not immediately clear whether the simplified version would include specific protection for disabled voters. CNN contacted Manchin’s office for comment.

The Commission’s spokesperson, Oriya Boytovic, said John Tester, chairman of the Democratic Party of Montana’s Senate Veterans Affairs, said, “A compromise voting right that gives everyone who can legally vote access to the ballot box. We are working on a bill. “

“We hope to eventually cross the finish line,” An3 said, no matter how fair voting is possible.

Correction: Earlier versions of this story mistakenly referred to the Common Defense PAC. It is their advocacy group that supports the For the People Act.

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