A study by researchers at Rutgers University has found that voter turnout among people with disabilities rose significantly in the 2008 presidential election, according to a press release from the American Association of People with Disabilities.

The study, by Profs. Lisa Schur and Douglas Kruse of the university’s School of Management and Labor Relations, found 14.7 million Americans with disabilities voting in the 2008 election. This compared with 10.9 million in the 2000 presidential election.

According to Kruse and Schur, the turnout of people with disabilities was only 7 percentage points lower than that of people without disabilities in the November 2008 election. Among the voting eligible population (citizens age 18 or older), 57.3 percent of people with disabilities voted, compared to 64.5 percent of people without disabilities.

“While the voting numbers among people with disabilities in 2008 indicates that they continue to face barriers in registration and voting, the fact that 14.7 million people with disabilities voted shows that they play an important role in the political process,” said Schur.

‘Promises, promises’

From the Associated Press:

A report from the Government Accountability Office has found that nearly one-third of the nation’s polling places failed to provide access to voters in wheelchairs in last November’s election.

The study found that 23 percent denied privacy to voters with disabilities, and 73 percent of polling places had physical features that could impede access to people with disabilities. Hundreds of millions of federal dollars have been given to states to make polling places more accessible since the 2002 passage of the Help America Vote Act.

“We are a far cry from where we need to be,” said Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, who requested the report. He said in a statement he would work with the Justice Department, which has jurisdiction to enforce federal election laws, to seek improvements.

… The issue is expected to take on greater prominence as baby boomers age and become less mobile. In last year’s election, about 16 percent of voters were 65 and older. By 2040, it is anticipated that 40 percent of all voters will be at least 65.

From the Irish Times:

Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI) is launching a campaign called  “My Opinions, My Vote“  hoping to give people with intellectual disabilities the knowledge and skills to form their own opinions and make educated political choices.

As part of the project, DSI has worked to translate the documents of European political parties into a simpler format. None of the documents the group has translated so far contains any reference to living with a disability.

From AP/CNN:

All but 11 states have laws limiting voting rights on the basis of competence, denying people voting rights for reasons like intellectual disabilities and mental illness. Advocates are working to help people exercise their rights, but say laws are vague and open to interpretation by the courts.

Others worry that unscrupulous outsiders will attempt to coerce or improperly claim the votes of vulnerable people.

Members of both parties often accuse opponents of trolling for votes in hospitals and nursing homes, notorious places for voter fraud. A former Pennsylvania congressman was convicted in 1998 of filling out absentee ballots in the names of nursing home residents, and similar accusations often surface at the local level.

Voter eligibility is crucial for this population, advocates say, because people with disabilities rely on the government for services.  “It’s very frustrating to see situations where they’re barred from voting on issues that have such an impact on their life,” said Jennifer Mathis, deputy legal director of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

Related stories here and here and here.

From the [Terre Haute, IN] Tribune-Star:

Voters with disabilities complain that they have been turned away from voting at satellite polling locations in Indiana because the law is unclear about assistance.

According to state law, voters with disabilities are eligible to vote at regular polling locations with assistance from a designated representative or two official judges at a precinct, but the law does not mention satellite voting. Consequently, satellite polling sites have interpreted the law differently, leaving voters frustrated and unable to vote as some polling places turn people away.

Will challenge son’s vote

From the Durham Herald Sun (registration required):

The mother of a man with intellectual disabilities in North Carolina claims an employee of a Durham group home committed voter fraud by taking her 28-year-old son to an early-voting site and telling him how to mark his ballot.

Eileen Murphy said she is planning to challenge her son’s vote, but will not pursue criminal charges. Her son, Adam Folsom, has velo-cardio-facial syndrome and reads at a third-grade level.

Murphy said she had told the group home that she did not want her son to vote. She said her son told her a group home worker had gone with him into the voting booth and told him where to mark his ballot. “They took advantage of him and had him vote the way they wanted him to vote,” she said.

Don Wright, general counsel for the N.C. Board of Elections, said Folsom and others like him are allowed to vote. “There’s no mental capacity requirement for voters or office holders,” he said.

From News10-TV in Sacramento (ABC affiliate):

The California Republican party is asking the secretary of state to investigate an organized voting campaign involving developmentally disabled adults in Tuolumne County.

As many as ten clients of the Thumbs Up! adult care center have already cast absentee ballots under the supervision of center director David Simerley, and nearly all of them were for Barack Obama.

“We all registered to vote and we all sat together as a group and went over our ballots and voted,” Simerley told News10.

Among those voting was Michael Rascon (above), 56, whose father described as having the mental capacity of a 5-year-old.

… California secretary of state Debra Bowen explained there is no prohibition against developmentally disabled adults voting without a court order declaring them incompetent.

Simerley defends his actions despite complaints from Sam Rascon and other parents of his adult clients. One parent actually tore up her son’s absentee ballot before it was mailed.

“Our mission is to help these people become valued, respected citizens,” he said. “And one of the most important things is to vote.”

Related stories from News10-TV:

• Parents of disabled voters angry over balloting
• Secretary of state mum on disabled voting probe