The National Coalition on Accessible Voting, a group dedicated to protecting and expanding voter access for people with disabilities released a statement in response to the the recession of Executive Order 14019, “Promoting Access to Voting.”
February 3, 2025
The National Coalition on Accessible Voting (NCAV), a coalition of disability and civil rights organizations who work to increase access to voting for people with disabilities, opposes the recession of Executive Order 14019, “Promoting Access to Voting.”[1] Voting is a cornerstone of our democracy, and this right must be available to all Americans.
Executive Order 14019 directed federal agencies to help eligible voters register to vote. Government assistance with voter registration is not novel. State governments have been assisting with voter registration for more than thirty years.[2]
State government-assisted voter registration has benefited the more than 34 million voters who have disabilities.[3]Eligible citizens with disabilities are less likely to be registered to vote than people without disabilities, with 26.3% citing disability itself as the reason they were not registered.[4] Slightly more than 30 percent of the eligible voters with disabilities who are registered- a substantial number – registered at a state DMV or at another public benefits agency.[5]
The federal government is responsible for safeguarding our democracy. Providing non-partisan voter registration support merely allowed the government to fulfill its obligations. We call upon the federal government to restore the Executive Order’s provisions. For more information on the NCAV and its positions, contact Kelly Israel at [email protected].
Sincerely,
The Arc of the United States
Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Center for Living and Working, Inc.
Disability Belongs
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
National Association of the Deaf
National Disability Rights Network
New Disabled South
Self Advocates Becoming Empowered
[1] Exec. Order No. 14019, Promoting Access to Voting, 86 C.F.R. 13623 (2021), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-03-10/pdf/2021-05087.pdf.
[2] See, e.g., About the National Voter Registration Act, U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, https://www.justice.gov/crt/about-national-voter-registration-act (last updated Apr. 5, 2023).
[3] Pathfinder Opinion Research, Re: Nationwide Survey of Adult Americans with Disabilities, Easter Seals (Oct. 16, 2024), https://www.easterseals.com/southerncal/shared-components/document-library/adults-with-disabilities-voting-survey.pdf; Sharon Watson, Adults with Disabilities Make Up Massive Voter Bloc, but Largely Overlooked by Candidates — New Easterseals Survey Reveals 35MM are Prepared to Vote in 2024 Election Despite Overwhelming Barriers to Cast Their Ballot, Easter Seals (Oct. 23, 2024), https://www.easterseals.com/about-us/newsroom/press-releases/adults-disabilities-make-massive-voter-bloc-largely-overlooked.
[4] U.S. Election Assistance Comm’n, Rutgers University, Lisa Schur, Douglas Kruse, & Mason Ameri, Disability and Voter Turnout in the 2022 Elections: Supplemental Analysis of Census Voter Turnout Data 11 (2023), available at https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/EAC_2023_Rutgers_Report_Supplement_FINAL.pdf.
[5] Id.
