Vote Suppression: Only 1 in 5 polling places in NJ meets accessibility requirements

Traveling_Home

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Tue Oct-02-07 02:18 PM
Original message

Vote Suppression: Only 1 in 5 polling places in NJ meets accessibility requirements

Crosspost in Disability Forum
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=250x2987

A New Jersey state inspection of its polling locations has revealed that only one in five meets legal accessibility requirements that have been in place for fifteen years. Many of the failing sites were amongst those that had passed county-level inspections, raising additional concerns. State Public Advocate Ronald Chen remarked, "Voting is the foundation of our democracy and a fundamental right of every American. Every citizen should be concerned when any group or individual is denied the opportunity to exercise his or her voting right privately and independently."

To read more about the state-sponsored inspection report, go to: http://www.aapd.com/dvpmain/pollaccess/071001njdpa.htm

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Flabbergasted

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Tue Oct-02-07 02:23 PM
Response to Original message

1. How is this voter suppression?

Voter suppression is a form of electoral fraud and refers to the use of governmental power, political campaign strategy, and private resources aimed at suppressing (i.e. reducing) the total vote of opposition candidacies instead of attempting to change likely voting behavior by changing the opinions of potential voters. This method is particularly effective if a significant amount of voters are intimidated individually because the voter might not consider his single vote important.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_suppression

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Traveling_Home

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Tue Oct-02-07 04:18 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. Here was my thought ...

Edited on Tue Oct-02-07 04:19 PM by Traveling_Home

The disability community overwhelmingly votes Democratic by my experience. If there is less than 20% of voting places that are accessible, due to lack of governmental enforcement of the ADA, the turnout and the participation of disabled voters will be reduced.

Seems like Voter Suppression as defined in Wikipedia to me.

;-)

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Flabbergasted

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Tue Oct-02-07 04:22 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. It could be but an analysis would be necessary to determine the extent of

the problems. For example: if the sites had 32 inch instead of 36 inch clearance for the bathroom door it would not necessarily keep the disabled from voting.

I imagine alot of the polling stations are old buildings with a variety of problems. This may not be a voter suppression "conspiracy" but it's a good find.

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Traveling_Home

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Wed Oct-03-07 12:33 AM
Response to Reply #3

5. And not small numbers...

In just looking at the number of persons on SSDI -(not SSI)- you can see we are a substantial voting block. In Colorado, as an example, there are 78,294 persons 18-64 receiving SSDI as of 12/2005.

For other states and stats
http://www.statehealthfacts.kff.org/comparemaptable.jsp?ind=344&cat=6

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karynnj

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Tue Oct-02-07 04:42 PM
Response to Reply #2

4. I would assume that if this has been the case for 5 years,

the Democratic (and Republican) organizations likely work to insure these people get absentee ballots. Not optimal, but they can vote. I am surprised the number is so high. My district votes at a senior citizen center.

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