A disability rights group looked at Ann Arbor’s polling locations during the November election and found that only a few had full accessibility accommodations.
Two of the 23 Election Day sites in Ann Arbor, observed by Detroit Disability Power, had accessible parking, entrances, voter-assist terminals (VATs) and wheelchair-height voting booths.
The organization’s advocacy director, Eric Welsby, says most locations did meet almost all disability accessibility standards. He adds VATs not being set up at those places was the factor that prevented those locations from being fully accessible.
“We find things were like the controller’s not plugged in, the headphones aren’t plugged in or aren’t even there. And a lot of times. it’s positioned in a way where others can potentially see that screen.”
Welsby says training election workers how to operate VATs is the most cost-effective way to physically include those with disabilities in the voting process.
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