Today the Wisconsin Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Teigen v. Wisconsin Elections Commission. The Court will decide whether Wisconsin law will protect voters’ ability to return their absentee ballots and will impact the voting rights of thousands of Wisconsinites with disabilities.
To elevate the voices of voters with disabilities impacted by these new restrictions on voting rights, Disability Rights Wisconsin is releasing “Our Voices, Our Votes”. This document shares the concerns and personal stories of people with disabilities and their family members regarding how these new restrictions on voting rights have the potential to disenfranchise them and others like them.
Many voters with disabilities and older adults must rely on a friend, family member or care provider to physically place their ballot in the mailbox, or return it to their clerk or to a secure drop box. The prohibition on absentee ballot return assistance will make it difficult if not impossible for many disabled
and elderly Wisconsin voters to return their ballots in the manner they have used for years.
The right to vote is a sacred constitutional right. Many people with disabilities fight every day to have a say about what happens in their own lives. They should not have to fight to have equal access to the fundamental right to vote that gives us all a say in our government. Federal laws including the Voting Rights Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act protect their right to vote.
As a party to the current litigation on this issue, DRW remains optimistic that when the Wisconsin Supreme Court fully considers the merits and the rights of voters with disabilities, it will rule in support of these longstanding practices for absentee ballot return assistance.
- Link to Our Voices, Our Votes: https://disabilityrightswi.org/wp content/uploads/2022/04/Our-Voices-Our-Votes-4-2022.pdf
