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Voter Assistance Growing But Still Flawed Says GAO
Staff Writer
The
latest U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessment of
the federal push to ensure voting accessibility for older Americans
finds that steps have been taken to increase the integrity of the
electoral process but that voter assistance remains inconsistent
in long-term care facilities.
Released just after the Thanksgiving holiday, the report found that 78 of the
92 localities the GAO surveyed take steps to facilitate voting for long-term
care facility residents. Nearly half have election officials visit the facility
to assist with the voting process.
The GAO also learned that the most common type of voting support in long-term
care facilities was provided by staff as they assisted residents with absentee
or early voting.
Fewer than half the states provide training to local election officials on state
requirements or guidance to facilitate voting for long-term care facility residents,
according to the report.
The GAO report was prepared at the request of Senate leaders concerned about
the disenfranchisement of voters with age-related or other physical disabilities.
“There is more to be done in our efforts to guarantee that every American,
regardless of their age or where they live, can exercise their right to vote,” emphasized
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Special Committee on Aging. “Ensuring
that residents can vote privately and independently should be a commonplace procedure
within long-term care facilities.”
The GAO outlined a number of strategies used by long-term care facilities to
guarantee voting integrity for residents including the requirement that voting
assistance be provided in a bipartisan manner and the signing of affidavits to
document that voting assistance was received.
Only 17 states reported conducting oversight to ensure that localities follow
voting guidelines for long-term care facilities.
Wide variance was also found among states’ efforts to ensure that ballots
are not fraudulently completed by someone else or that residents are not unduly
influenced in their voting decisions.
The GAO recommended that the Election Assistance Commission improve voting practices
in long-term care facilities through the collection and dissemination of cost-effective
practices for providing voting access while ensuring voting integrity.
“The good news from this report is that we are making progress in ensuring
that senior citizens can vote, but the bad news is that too many of those at
long-term care centers still aren’t getting the assistance they need to
cast their vote on election day,” assessed Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York,
chairman of the Senate Rules Committee.
“This report tells us that there’s greater work to be done to improve
access to the ballot box and educate seniors in long-term care facilities about
how to vote,” Schumer concluded.
The November report is the third in a series of three released by the GAO this
year as part of an ongoing study of voter accessibility.
The first report, released in June, estimated that only 27 percent of polling
places across the country possess all the required features to facilitate private
and independent voting for older and disabled voters.
A companion study by Rutgers University indicated that people with disabilities
are approximately 15 percent less likely to vote than those without, and the
rapid aging of America’s population would likely increase the number of
voters who may face challenges due to impaired mobility.
The second GAO report recommended that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) step
up its efforts to monitor and oversee polling place accessibility.
The GAO found that gaps remain in the DOJ’s enforcement of the Help America
Vote Act of 2002, which requires polling places to provide at least one voting
system that is fully accessible for those with disabilities.
The report outlined inconsistencies regarding physical accessibility requirements,
voting system usability and independent voting and privacy concerns.
The same report also identified state practices to facilitate access. Over 45
percent of polling places had what the GAO considered to be an accessible voting
system that could still pose a problem for those with certain disabilities — for
example, a voting station that cannot accommodate voters in wheelchairs.
The series of reports were prepared as a follow up on a study conducted by the
GAO during the 2000 elections, which found that only 16 percent of polling sites
surveyed nationwide were fully accessible to people with disabilities.
Senators requested that the GAO conduct the study following a hearing held by
the Special Committee on Aging just before Super Tuesday in 2008.
The Aging Committee hearing focused on older voters and the various barriers
they face in exercising their right to vote, covering issues of poll accessibility,
voting within long-term care settings and ongoing concerns that voter identification
laws can disproportionately disenfranchise seniors.
Older individuals historically represent a politically-active group, particularly
during primary elections, which typically attract a lower level of voter turnout.
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