The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) would like to thank the sponsors of the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 for introducing a bill that will restore some of the most vital voting rights protections lost in the United States Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision. The Voting Rights Act is one of the most important pieces of voting rights legislation in our nation’s history, and Congress should act to restore it.
NDRN is the non-profit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) agencies for individuals with disabilities. The P&As were established by the United States Congress to protect the rights of people with disabilities and their families through legal support, advocacy, referral, and education. P&As are in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico and the US Territories. There is a P&A affiliated with the Native American Consortium, including the Hopi, Navaho, and San Juan Southern Paiute Nations in the Four Corners region of the Southwest. Collectively, the P&A Network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy services to people with disabilities in the United States. Through the Protection and Advocacy for Voter Access (PAVA) program, created by the Help America Vote Act, the P&As have a federal mandate to “ensure the full participation in the electoral process for individuals with disabilities, including registering to vote, casting a vote and accessing polling places” and are the leading expert on access to the vote for people with disabilities in the United States.
In the six years following the Shelby decision, NDRN and the P&As have witnessed the closure of large numbers of polling places and changes to state and local election laws, including strict voter identification requirements and cut backs in early and absentee voting, that impact access to the ballot for voters with disabilities as much as any other American. The Voting Rights Advancement Act will ensure that accessible polling places and electoral procedures are available to all Americans. Further, the Act ensures that crucial public notices provided to voters to inform them of changes to their polling places and other vital information are provided in a timely manner and available in formats accessible to voters with disabilities.
Despite widespread evidence of voting discrimination, Congress has failed to restore the crucial protections of the Voting Rights Act, needed as much now as they were almost 60 years ago. NDRN urges Congress to take swift action to ensure that Americans will not experience another presidential election without the crucial protections of the Voting Rights Act.
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The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) is the nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and the Client Assistance Programs (CAP) for individuals with disabilities. Collectively, the Network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy services to people with disabilities in the United States
