Throughout history, people around the world have had to fight for the right to vote. It is one of our most cherished rights. Yet many people with disabilities, such as those with guardians, are still denied that right. The Alliance believes that having a guardian should not automatically disqualify someone from voting. Instead, the decision about one's competency to vote should be made separately by a court, if needed. Others have faced barriers to voting independently, such as people with visual disabilities, and to physically accessing polling places. Washington State's Plan for implementing the Help America Vote Act would bring by 2006 a machine to each polling location that would have the technology to make it possible for individuals with visual impairments to vote on their own, without asking for assistance or needing to request a ballot in an alternate format. Additional efforts need to be made to ensure that people with physical disabilities can access their designated polling place, if that is their preferred method of voting. It is our system of voting that makes our country a democracy. To maintain that democracy, we must make the system work for all of our citizens.

February 2004