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Begin Cover Page
United States General Accounting Office GAO
Report to Congressional Requesters
October 2001
VOTERS WITH DISABILITIES
Access to Polling Places and Alternative Voting Methods
GAO-02-107

Begin Page i
Contents
Letter, page 1.
Results in Brief, page 5.
Background, page 10.
State Provisions and County Practices for Assuring Voting Accessibility Vary 
Widely, page 16.
Most Polling Places Have Features That May Impede Access, but Most Also 
Provide Accommodations That May Facilitate Voting, page 22.
A Variety of Challenges Face States and Counties as They Work Toward 
Improving Access to Voting, page 33.
Appendixes
Appendix I: Scope and Methods, including:
Analysis of State Laws and Written Policies, page 40.
Data Collection From States, Counties, and Selected National Organizations, 
page 41.
Selection of Polling Places, page 43.
Description of Site Visits and the Data Collection Instrument, page 44.
Analysis of Election Day Data, page 47.
Appendix II: Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument, page 
50.
Appendix III: People and Counties Contacted During Our Review, page 64.
Appendix IV: State Provisions Concerning Voting Accessibility, page 74.
Appendix V: Selected Potential Impediments by Location Area, page 86.
Appendix VI: Issues and Challenges Related to Voting Accommodations and 
Alternatives, page 87.
Appendix VII: GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments, page 90.
Tables
Table 1: State Provisions Concerning Accessibility of Polling Places, page 
17.
Table 2: State Practices in Assuring and Improving Polling Place 
Accessibility, page 19.
Table 3: State Provisions for Alternative Voting Methods and Accommodations, 
page 21.

Begin Page ii
Table 4: Prevalence of Potential Impediments by Type of Building, page 29.
Table 5: Potential Challenges Posed by Various Voting Methods, page 31.
Table 6: Comparison of Election Day and Non-Election Day Data: Percentage of 
Polling Places With Potential Impediments in Two Areas, page 48.
Table 7: Representatives of Election Offices in 50 States and the District 
of Columbia, page 64.
Table 8: Alphabetical Listing of 100 Randomly Selected Counties, page 67.
Table 9: State Provisions Concerning Polling Place Accessibility, 
Accommodation of Voting Booth Areas and Equipment, and Aids for Visually 
Impaired Voters, page 74.
Table 10: State Provisions Concerning Alternative Voting Methods or 
Accommodations On or Before Election Day, page 80.
Figures
Figure 1: Prevalence of Potential Impediments at Polling Places and 
Availability of Curbside Voting, page 8.
Figure 2: Key Features at Polling Places, page 24.
Figure 3: Prevalence of Potential Impediments at Polling Places and 
Availability of Curbside Voting, page 26.
Figure 4: Percentage of Polling Places With Potential Impediments That Offer 
Curbside Voting, page 27.
Figure 5: Percentage of All Polling Places by Number of Potential 
Impediments, page 28.
Figure 6: Voting Methods Used at Polling Places, page 31.
Abbreviations
ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
ANSI: American National Standards Institute.
DCI: data collection instrument.
DOD: Department of Defense.
DOJ: Department of Justice.
FEC: Federal Election Commission.
NACO: National Association of Counties.
NACRC: National Association of County Recorders and Clerks.
NASED: National Association of State Election Directors.
NASS: National Association of Secretaries of State.
VAEHA: Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act.
VRA: Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Begin Page 1
United States General Accounting Office
Washington, D.C. 20548
October 15, 2001
The Honorable Tom Harkin
Chairman, Subcommittee on Labor, Health
and Human Services, and Education
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
The Honorable John McCain
Ranking Minority Member, Committee on
Commerce, Science, and Transportation
United States Senate
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Ranking Minority Member, Committee on
Rules and Administration
United States Senate

Voting is the foundation of our American democratic system, and federal
law generally requires access to voting on Election Day for people with
disabilities. Under the law, state political subdivisions responsible for
conducting elections must assure that polling places used in federal
elections are accessible, as determined by the state. (Refer to Footnote 1.) 
Exceptions are
allowed if the state determines that all potential polling places have been
surveyed and no accessible place is available, and the political subdivision
cannot make one temporarily accessible. (Refer to Footnote 2.) In these 
cases, voters with
disabilities who are assigned to inaccessible polling places must be, upon
advance request, either reassigned to an accessible polling place or
provided another means for voting on Election Day. (Refer to Footnote 3.) 
These requirements
present a challenge to state and local election officials because achieving
accessibility (which is affected by the type of impairment and various
barriers posed by polling place facilities and voting methods) is part of a
larger set of challenges they face in administering elections on a periodic
basis.
Footnote 1: See the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped 
Act, 42 U.S.C. section 1973ee
et seq.
Footnote 2: Exceptions are also allowed in the case of an emergency, as 
determined by the chief
election officer of the state. See 42 U.S.C. section 1973ee-1(b)(1).
Footnote 3: 42 U.S.C. section 1973ee-1(b)(2)(B).

Begin Page 2
Because nationwide information on the accessibility of voting for people
with disabilities is dated and has significant limitations, you asked us to
study voting access for people with disabilities, including access to 
polling
places and alternative voting methods. This study is part of a broader body
of GAO work about election procedures and election reform issues that we
are doing at the request of various members of the Congress. This report
(1) examines state and local provisions and practices for assuring voting
accessibility, both at polling places and with respect to alternative voting
methods and accommodations; (refer to Footnote 4) (2) estimates the 
proportion of polling
places with features that might facilitate or impede access, including
features of polling booths and voting accommodations; and (3) identifies
efforts and challenges to improving voting accessibility. (Refer to Footnote 
5.)
Footnote 4: In this report, we define alternative voting method to be any 
voting method other than
traditional in-person voting at a polling place on Election Day. Alternative 
voting methods
include early voting and absentee voting, which may be available to all 
voters. We use the
term accommodations to refer to measures mainly intended to facilitate 
voting for people
with disabilities. Accommodations provided at the polling place include 
curbside voting
(whereby a ballot is brought outside the polling place to a voter who is 
unable to enter the
polling place), poll worker assistance, Braille or large-type ballots or 
instructions, and other
visual or audio aids. Other accommodations made available outside the 
traditional polling
place include reassignment to accessible polling places and permanent 
absentee voting.
Footnote 5: This report focuses on access to voting for people with physical 
disabilities, but does not
specifically address access for voters with hearing impairments. It also 
does not address
access to voter registration.

Begin Page 3
To examine provisions for assuring voting accessibility, we reviewed state
statutes and regulations pertaining to voting accessibilityboth at polling
places and with respect to alternative voting methodsfor all 50 states and
the District of Columbia. We also reviewed written policies and other
guidelines that we identified or were provided by chief election officials 
for
all states, the District of Columbia, and a statistical sample of 100 
counties,
selected to be representative of all counties in the contiguous United 
States
with the exception of those in Oregon. (Refer to Footnote 6.) (The county 
selection process is
described later in this section.) In addition, we interviewed election
officials in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in the 100 
counties in
our sample to identify practices for assuring voting accessibility. (Refer 
to Footnote 7.) However,
we did not verify the implementation of state and county provisions or 
practices.
Footnote 6: We drew our sample of 100 counties using the Census Bureaus 
Population Estimates for
Counties by Age and Sex: Annual Time Series (for 1998), which included a 
total of 3,074
counties or statistically similar subdivisions. We did not include counties 
outside the
contiguous United States for reasons of cost and efficiency, or counties in 
Oregon because,
since 1998, elections in this state have been conducted almost exclusively 
by mail. The 100
counties in our sample are located in 33 states.
Footnote 7: In most states, responsibility for conducting elections is 
entrusted to county election
officials. For the 100 counties, we generally contacted county election 
officials. However,
in four counties we contacted election officials at a subcounty level, such 
as towns and
cities, where the responsibility for elections resided, and then combined 
their responses to
create county-level responses.

Begin Page 4
To estimate the proportion of polling places in the contiguous United States
with features that might facilitate or impede access for people with
mobility, dexterity, and visual impairments, we visited randomly selected
polling places across the country on Election Day (November 7, 2000). We 
used a
two-stage sampling method that created a nationally representative sample
of polling places in the contiguous United States. (Refer to Footnote 8.) 
The first stage involved
randomly selecting 100 counties. We based the probability of each countys
selection on the size of its voting age population so that heavily populated
counties, which tend to have more polling places than less-populated
counties, would have a greater chance of being included in the sample. The
second stage involved randomly selecting eight polling places in each
county. We then visited no less than 3 and up to 8 polling places per 
county,
for a total of 496 polling places on Election Day. (Refer to Footnote 9.) At 
each polling place,
using a composite of various federal and nonfederal accessibility
guidelines, (refer to Footnote 10) we took measurements and made 
observations of features of
the facility and voting methods that could potentially impede accesssuch
as no accessible parking, steep ramps, high door thresholds, and voting
booths that did not accommodate voters in wheelchairs. We also
interviewed poll workers in charge of the polling place to identify
accommodations offered at the polling placesuch as curbside voting
outside the polling place, and poll worker assistance and other voter aids
inside the voting room. We documented our observations and interviews
with poll workers in a data collection instrument we developed. However,
because the extent to which any given feature may affect access is
dependent upon numerous factorsincluding the type or severity of an
individuals disabilitywe were not able to determine whether any
Footnote 8: Sampling errors for these data generally range from 3 to 10 
percentage points, unless
otherwise noted in this report.
Footnote 9: The 496 polling places we visited on Election Day were located 
in 85 of the 100 counties.
We visited an additional 89 polling places in 15 counties before or after 
Election Day
because we were unable to gain access to polling places in these counties on 
Election Day.
Because we were unable to visit these polling places on Election Day, we 
were only able to
collect partial data at these sites. See Appendix I for an analysis of these 
data.
Footnote 10: Because a single set of access standards for polling places 
does not exist, we incorporated
into our data collection instrument criteria from the following federal and 
nonfederal
accessibility guidelines: the 1991 Americans with Disabilities Act 
Accessibility Guidelines
for Buildings and Facilities; the ADA Guide for Small Towns; the American 
National
Standards Institute (ANSI) accessibility guidelines; and accessibility 
documents published
by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and the National Organization on 
Disability, and
the National Task Force on Accessible Elections. See Appendix I for more 
information on the
development of the data collection instrument.

Begin Page 5
observed feature prevented access. Accordingly, we do not categorize
polling places as accessible or inaccessible. Moreover, we were not able
to determine whether curbside voting or other accommodations offered at
polling places actually facilitated voting. Finally, we did not assess 
whether
our observations on Election Day were consistent with state and county
provisions or practices.
To identify efforts and challenges to improving voting access, we
interviewed election officials in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, 
and
the 100 counties in our sample to obtain their views on the challenges
associated with improving the accessibility of polling places and voting
equipment. (Refer to Footnote 11.) We also interviewed selected election 
officials and
representatives of disability organizations to obtain their views on the 
costs
of accessible voting equipment and the extent to which alternative voting
methods and accommodations improve access for voters with disabilities.
See appendix I for more information on our methods; appendix II for a
copy of our data collection instrument; and appendix III for a list of the
people, counties, states, and organizations we contacted.
We performed our work from May 2000 to July 2001 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards.
Results in Brief
All states (refer to Footnote 12) have provisions (in the form of statutes, 
regulations, or policies)
that specifically address voting by people with disabilities. However,
consistent with the broad discretion afforded states, these provisions vary
greatly. For example, our review of state provisions shows that while 42
states have established standards by which to judge the accessibility of
polling places, the number and specificity of these standards vary from
state to state, and the remaining 9 states have not established specific
accessibility standards. State laws and policies also vary on how counties
are to assure accessibility of polling places. For example, while some
states require counties to inspect polling places for accessibility, many do
not. Nevertheless, our survey of counties confirms that most counties
Footnote 11: Sampling errors for county survey data generally range from 4 
to 25 percentage points. We
generally present the lower bound of the estimate when the sampling error is 
large.
Footnote 12: For analytical purposes we treated the District of Columbia as 
a state, resulting in a total of
51 states.

Begin Page 6
inspect all polling places for accessibility. Our county survey also shows
that county practices for assuring accessibility vary. For example, while
some counties cite accessibility as a specific criterion used in selecting
polling places, others do not.
All states provide for one or more alternative voting methods or
accommodations that may facilitate voting by people with disabilities
whose assigned polling places are inaccessible. For example, all states
have provisions allowing voters with disabilities to vote absentee without
requiring notary or medical certification requirements, although the
deadlines and methods (for example, by mail or in person) for absentee
voting vary among states. In addition, many states, but not all, have laws 
or
policies that provide for other accommodations and alternatives for voting
on or before Election Daysuch as reassignment to a polling place that is
accessible, curbside voting, or early voting.

Begin Page 7
On Election Day 2000, we made onsite observations and collected data at
polling places on features that may facilitate or impede access for those
individuals with disabilities who prefer to vote at the polls in the same
manner as the general public. (Polling places are generally located in
schools, libraries, churches, and town halls, as well as other facilities.)
Although the extent to which any given feature may prevent or facilitate
access is unknown, we estimate that, from the parking area to the voting
room, 16 percent of all polling places in the contiguous United States 
(refer to Footnote 13) have
no potential impediments, 56 percent have one or more potential
impediments but offer curbside voting, and 28 percent have one or more
potential impediments and do not offer curbside voting. (Refer to Footnote 
14.) (See figure 1.)
These potential impediments would primarily affect individuals with
mobility impairments. Such potential impediments occur most often on the
route from the parking area to the building or at the entrance to the 
polling
place, with more than half of all polling places having impediments in these
areas. Inside the voting room, the types and arrangement of voting
equipment used may also pose challenges for people with mobility, vision,
or dexterity impairments. To facilitate voting inside the voting room,
polling places generally provide accommodations, such as voter assistance,
magnifying devices, and voting instructions or sample ballots in large 
print.
However, none of the polling places that we visited had special ballots or
voting equipment adapted for blind voters. (Refer to Footnote 15.)
Footnote 13: Although our results are representative of all polling places 
in the United States, they may
not be representative of all polling places in any individual state.
Footnote 14: Although curbside voting is not available at a number of 
polling places with potential
impediments, as noted earlier all states have provisions for absentee 
voting, and many states
provide for other alternative voting methods or accommodations, which may 
facilitate
voting by people with disabilities on or before Election Day.
Footnote 15: Although we did not observe such aids on Election Day, some 
county officials told us that,
upon request, they try to provide special aids so that blind individuals can 
vote
independently. We may not have observed these aids on Election Day because 
they may not
have been requested in advance by voters in the polling places that we 
visited or the local
poll workers we interviewed may not have been aware of these aids.

Begin Page 8
Figure 1: Prevalence of Potential Impediments at Polling Places and 
Availability of Curbside Voting
A pie chart with three slices representing the prevalence of potential 
impediments at polling places and
availability of curbside voting. Slice one indicates that 16 percent of 
polling places have no potential
impediments. Slice two indicates that 56 percent of polling places have one 
or more potential impediments
and offer curbside voting. Slice three indicates that 28 percent of polling 
places have one or more potential
impediments but do not offer curbside voting.
Note: These potential impediments are located along the route from the 
parking area to the voting
room.
Source: GAO analysis of polling place data collected on November 7, 2000.
A number of efforts have been made by states and localities to improve
voting accessibility for people with disabilities, such as modifying polling
places, acquiring new voting equipment, and expanding voting options.
Nevertheless, state and county election officials we surveyed cited a
variety of challenges to improving access. Election officials cited the
limited availability of accessible facilities as one major challenge. 
Facilities
used as polling places, such as schools and churches, are generally owned
or controlled by public or private entities not responsible for running
elections, complicating attempts to make polling places more accessible.
In addition, some election officials indicated that funding constraints at 
the
local level pose another challenge, hindering the acquisition of voting
equipment that is more accessible. Finally, expanding the availability of
alternative voting methods or accommodations can provide voters with
additional options but implementing these changes can present election
officials with legal, administrative, and operational challenges. Moreover,
some disability advocates believe that although alternative voting methods
and accommodations, such as curbside voting, expand options for voters
with disabilities, they do not provide the same voting opportunities
afforded the general public (that is, the opportunity to vote independently

Begin Page 9
and privately at a polling place) and should not be viewed as permanent
solutions for inaccessible polling places.
Although improving access for voters with disabilities presents challenges
for state and local election officials, this issue warrants attention and
consideration, particularly in light of recent nationwide discussions over
election reform. While our report does not take a position on what the
appropriate access policy should be, as the Congress and other
policy makers at all levels of government consider measures aimed at
improving the accuracy of elections and the ability of American citizens to
participate in the electoral process, it would be appropriate to consider
how such reforms could affect access for people with disabilities.
We provided a copy of our draft report to selected representatives of
national organizations representing state and county election officials and
people with disabilities; (refer to Footnote 16) the Department of Justice; 
and the Architectural
and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (the Access Board) for
their review. Overall, the reviewers stated that our report presented
information on access to polling places and alternative voting methods in a
fair and balanced manner. In some cases, the reviewers provided technical
comments or made specific suggestions to improve the clarity of the
report. We incorporated their comments where appropriate.
Footnote 16: These national organizations include the National Association 
of State Election Directors,
the Election Centers National Task Force on Voting Accessibility, the 
National Association
of County Recorders and Clerks, the American Foundation for the Blind, and 
the Paralyzed
Veterans of America.

Begin Page 10
Background
Holding federal elections in the United States is a massive enterprise,
administered primarily at the local level. On Election Day, millions of
voters visit polling places across the country, which are located in 
schools,
recreation centers, churches, various government buildings, and even
private homes. (Refer to Footnote 17.) For the 2000 election, counties and 
other local
jurisdictions deployed about 1.4 million poll workers and more than
700,000 voting machines to polling places across the country. (Refer to 
Footnote 18.) Each of the
50 states and the District of Columbia also play a role in elections, by
establishing election laws and policies and providing oversight in their
respective states. The federal governments role in the administration of
elections is fairly limited. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is
generally responsible for regulating the financing of elections, serving as 
a
clearinghouse for information on elections, and providing advice and
assistance to state and local election administrators. (Refer to Footnote 
19.)
Footnote 17: Federal elections are held on the first Tuesday after the first 
Monday in November in even numbered
years. In the interests of convenience and economy, most states and many 
local
jurisdictions also hold many of their elections on federal Election Day.
Footnote 18: Data are from the National Association of Secretaries of State 
Election Reform
Resolution, February 6, 2001, http://www.nass.org/pubs/pubs_electionres.html 
(cited March 26, 2001).
Footnote 19: For example, the FECs Office of Election Administration worked 
with industry experts to
establish a voluntary set of standards for computer-based voting equipment 
in 1990.

Begin Page 11
While federal elections are generally conducted under state laws and
policies, a few federal laws apply to voting and some provisions 
specifically
address accessibility issues for voters with disabilities. (Refer to 
Footnote 20.) Most notably, the
Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (VAEHA),
enacted in 1984, requires that political subdivisions responsible for
conducting elections assure that all polling places for federal elections 
are
accessible to elderly voters and voters with disabilities. (Refer to 
Footnote 21.) Two exceptions
are allowed: (1) in the case of an emergency as determined by the chief
election officer of the state, and (2) when the chief election officer of 
the
state determines that all potential polling places have been surveyed and no
such accessible place is available, nor is the political subdivision able to
make one temporarily accessible in the area involved. Any elderly voter or
voter with a disability assigned to an inaccessible polling place, upon his 
or
her advance request, must be assigned to an accessible polling place or be
provided with an alternative means for casting a ballot on the day of the
election. (Refer to Footnote 22.) Under the VAEHA, the definition of 
accessible is determined
under guidelines established by the states chief election officer, but the 
law
does not specify what those guidelines shall contain or the form those
guidelines should take. The VAEHA also contains provisions to make
absentee voting more accessible and provides for voting aids at polling
places. (Refer to Footnote 23.)
Footnote 20: For a broader review of federal laws affecting elections, see 
Elections: The Scope of
Congressional Authority in Election Administration (GAO-01-470, March 13, 
2001).
Footnote 21: 42 U.S.C. section 1973ee et seq.
Footnote 22: The Senate Report which accompanied the VAEHA noted that 
...other means for casting a
ballot could include, but would not be limited to, curbside voting or voting 
with an absentee
ballot on the day of the election. See S. Rep. No. 98-590, at 2 (1984).
Footnote 23: Specifically, under the VAEHA, no notarization or medical 
certification shall be required of
a voter with a disability with respect to an absentee ballot or an 
application for such ballot,
except that a state may require medical certification to establish 
eligibility for a permanent
absentee application or ballot, or to apply for an absentee ballot after the 
deadline has
passed (42 U.S.C. section 1973ee-3(b)). In addition, each state shall make 
available voting
aids at all polling places, including large-print instructions, and the 
chief election officer
shall provide public notice, calculated to reach affected voters, of the 
availability of aids (42
U.S.C. section 1973ee-3(a) and (c)).

Begin Page 12
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) also applies to voting.
Title II of the ADA and implementing regulations require that people with
disabilities have access to basic public services, including the right to 
vote;
however, it does not strictly require that all polling place sites be
accessible. (Refer to Footnote 24.) Under the ADA, public entities must make 
reasonable
modifications in policies, practices, or procedures to avoid discrimination
against people with disabilities. Moreover, no individual with a disability
may, by reason of the disability, be excluded from participating in or be
denied the benefits of any public program, service, or activity. State and
local governments may comply with ADA accessibility requirements in a
variety of ways, such as by redesigning equipment, reassigning services to
accessible buildings or alternative accessible sites, or altering existing
facilities or constructing new ones. (Refer to Footnote 25.) However, state 
and local
governments are not required to take actions that would threaten or
destroy the historic significance of an historic property, fundamentally 
alter
the nature of a service, or impose undue financial and administrative
burdens. Moreover, a public entity is not required to make structural
changes in existing facilities where other methods are effective in
achieving compliance. (Refer to Footnote 26.) In choosing between available 
methods of
complying with the ADA, state and local governments must give priority to
the choices that offer services, programs, and activities in the most
integrated setting appropriate.
Footnote 24: 42 U.S.C. sections 12131 to 12134. Title II, Subtitle A, covers 
all activities of state and local
governments, regardless of the government entitys size or receipt of 
federal funding.
Footnote 25: 28 C.F.R. section 35.150(b)(1). All newly constructed public 
buildings where construction
commenced after January 26, 1992, must be readily accessible to individuals 
with disabilities (28
C.F.R. section 35.151(a)). Alterations to existing facilities commenced 
after January 26, 1992,
must also be readily accessible to the maximum extent feasible (28 C.F.R. 
section
35.151(b)).
Footnote 26: Under Project Civic Access, the Department of Justice reached 
agreements with a
number of cities and towns to open up civic life, including voting, to 
people with disabilities.
Some agreements require altering polling places or providing curbside or 
absentee balloting.
U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights 
Section, Enforcing the
ADA: A Status Report from the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.: 
(April-September 2000).

Begin Page 13
Title III of the ADA covers commercial facilities and places of public
accommodation such as restaurants, private schools, and privately
operated recreation centers. (Refer to Footnote 27.) Such facilities may 
also be used as polling
places. Under Title III, public accommodations must make reasonable
modifications in policies, practices, or procedures to facilitate access for
individuals with disabilities. (Refer to Footnote 28.) They are also 
required to remove physical
barriers in existing buildings when it is readily achievable to do so, 
that is,
when it can be done without much difficulty and expense, given the public
accommodations resources. In the event that removal of an architectural
barrier cannot be accomplished easily, the accommodation may take
alternative measures to facilitate accessibility.(Refer to Footnote 29.) All 
buildings newly
constructed by public accommodations and commercial facilities must be
readily accessible; alterations to existing buildings are required to the
maximum extent feasible to be readily accessible to individuals with
disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs. (Refer to Footnote 30.)
Finally, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) provides that any voter
requiring assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or 
inability
to read or write may be given assistance by a person of the voters
choice. (Refer to Footnote 31.)
Footnote 27: Exempted from these requirements generally are private clubs 
and religious organizations,
including places of worship.
Footnote 28: 28 C.F.R. section 36.302(a).
Footnote 29: For example, the accommodation can rearrange furniture or 
provide curb service or home
delivery (28 C.F.R. section 36.305). It may also widen a doorway to a 
narrower width or
install a ramp with a steeper slope than is permitted by ADA accessibility 
guidelines (28
C.F.R. section 36.304(d)(2)).
Footnote 30: 28 C.F.R. sections 36.401 to 36.406 (requirement applies to new 
construction with
certificates of occupancy issued after January 26, 1993, or alteration 
commenced after January 26,
1992).
Footnote 31: 42 U.S.C. section 1973aa-6. However, the VRA prohibits 
assistance provided by the voters
employer or an agent of that employer, or an officer or agent of the voters 
union.

Begin Page 14
Although these federal laws support the right to vote for persons with
disabilities, concerns continue to be expressed about voting opportunities
for people with disabilities. One recent study reported that people with
disabilities were about 15 percent less likely to vote than those without
disabilitieseven after controlling for demographic and other factors
related to votingand suggested that voting behavior of people with
disabilities is affected by access to polling places. (Refer to Footnote 
32.) According to a recent
analysis of Census data, nearly 1 out of 5 Americans has some type of
disability, and more than 1 in 10 has a severe disability. For Americans 65
and over, 54.5 percent have a disability and 37.7 percent have a severe
disability. (Refer to Footnote 33.)
Footnote 32: Douglas L. Kruse, Kay Schriner, Lisa Schur, and Todd Shields, 
Empowerment Through
Civic Participation: A Study of the Political Behavior of People With 
Disabilities, Final
Report to the Disability Research Consortium, Bureau of Economic Research, 
Rutgers
University and New Jersey Developmental Disabilities Council (April 1999). 
This study
involved a national telephone survey of 1,240 Americans of voting age. The 
sample was
based on a random selection of households and was stratified to include 700 
people with
disabilities.
Footnote 33: Jack McNeil, Americans with Disabilities: 1997. U.S. Census 
Bureau Current Population
Reports (February 2001), pp. 9, 11. Data used in this report are from 1997. 
An analysis of more
recent data was not available as of July 2001.

Begin Page 15
Such concerns about voting opportunities have prompted action on the
part of policy makers and other interested parties. For example, members
of the Congress recently proposed several amendments to the VAEHA that
were intended to improve voting access. (Refer to Footnote 34.) In addition, 
the Election
Centers National Task Force on Accessible Elections, composed of state
and local election officials and representatives of disability 
organizations,
met in 1999 and issued a guidebook to assist local election officials in
improving voting access. (Refer to Footnote 35.) Furthermore, following 
reports that elderly
voters were unable to decipher ballots and that voting equipment created
overcounts and undercounts in the 2000 election, members of the Congress
and other policy makers have proposed a number of election reforms,
including provisions for further improving voting access for people with
disabilities. (Refer to Footnote 36.) Finally, the FEC has been working 
toward incorporating
accessibility standards for electronic voting equipment into the update of
its 1990 voluntary standards for computer-based voting equipment. (Refer to 
Footnote 37.) In
addition, the IEEE-SA Standards Board has recently approved a project to
develop a standard by which electronic voting equipment may be evaluated
for, among other things, accessibility.(Refer to Footnote 38.)
Footnote 34: S.511 sought to amend the VAEHA to ensure that all polling 
methods selected and used for
federal elections are accessible to elderly voters and voters with 
disabilities.
Footnote 35: Voting: A Constitutional Right for All CitizensA Guidebook to 
Assist Election Officials
to Achieve Equal Access for All Citizens to the Polling Place and the Ballot 
was published
in 1999 by the National Task Force on Accessible Elections, initiated by the 
Election Center.
The guidebook was based on a previous document originally published in 1986 
by the
National Organization on Disability and updated in 1987 by the National 
Easter Seal Society.
Footnote 36: For example, H.R. 263, S.379, and S.565 call for the 
establishment of commissions to study
or advise on, among other things, how to improve voting accessibility; and 
H.R.1151 directs
the FEC to issue voluntary standards and make grants to improve the 
accessibility of voting.
In addition, about 1,700 bills concerning election reform have been 
introduced in state
legislatures around the country.
Footnote 37: The FEC 1990 standards address only computer-based systems; 
aside from electronic
tabulation machines, they do not address paper or punch card ballots as used 
by the voter,
or mechanical voting machines. The standards are voluntary; states are free 
to adopt them
in whole or in part, or reject them entirely. As of April 2001, 35 states 
have adopted at least
some part of FECs 1990 voting system standards. At this time, it cannot be 
known how
many states will adopt FECs revised standards.
Footnote 38: The IEEE-SA is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics 
Engineers, Inc. Standards
Association.

Begin Page 16
State Provisions and County Practices for Assuring Voting Accessibility Vary 
Widely
Considerable variation exists in how states and counties attempt to meet
the needs of voters with disabilities, both at polling places and through
alternative methods of voting. Consistent with the VAEHA, all states and
the District of Columbia have established provisions that address voting
accessibility at polling places. However, state provisions vary in a number
of ways, including whether these provisions take the form of statute or
regulation, which carry the force and effect of law, or whether they exist
only in policy. Similarly, states and counties vary in how they select,
inspect, and modify polling places to assure their accessibility. Finally, 
if
some polling places are not or cannot be made readily accessible, all states
have provisions for voters with disabilities to vote absentee either on or
before Election Day. Many but not all states also have provisions for other
alternative voting methods or accommodations to facilitate voting by
people with disabilities on or before Election Day.
State Provisions for Addressing Accessibility of Polling Places Vary Widely
All states have laws and other provisions concerning voting access for
people with disabilities, including their access to polling places, but the
extent and manner in which these provisions promote accessibility vary
from state to state. This variation is consistent with the VAEHA, which
requires that states establish guidelines but does not prescribe what those
guidelines should contain. We found that state provisions vary in several
ways, including the type or nature of the voting access provision and
whether they exist in statutes or regulationswhich carry the force and
effect of lawor in policy documents. For example, table 1 shows that 36
states have a statute or regulation stating that all polling places should 
be
accessible, 7 states have a policy that requires or suggests that all 
polling
places be accessible, and 8 states have no such provisions. Similarly, while
some states have statutes or regulations covering Braille or large-type
ballots or magnifiers for visually impaired voters, the majority of states
have no such provisions. Overall, we found that some states have
numerous provisions addressing voting and polling place accessibility,
while some states have very few. (See Appendix IV, tables 9 and 10, for a
detailed listing of each states provisions.)

Begin Page 17
Table 1: State Provisions Concerning Accessibility of Polling Places
State provisions: Voting accessibility:
Voting by people with disabilities explicitly addressed: Number of states 
with provisions: Statute or regulation 51,
Policy only (refer to Footnote A) 0. Number of states with no provision 0.
State provisions: Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible: Number of states with 
provisions: Statute or regulation 36,
Policy only 7. Number of states with no provision 8.
State provisions contain one or more polling place accessibility standards: 
Number of states with provisions: Statute or regulation 23,
Policy only 19. Number of states with no provision 9.
Inspection of polling places to assess accessibility is required: Number of 
states with provisions: Statute or regulation 15,
Policy only 14. Number of states with no provision 22.
Reporting by counties to state on polling place accessibility is required: 
Number of states with provisions: Statute or regulation 10,
Policy only 10. Number of states with no provision 31.
State provisions: Voting booth areas and equipment:
Voting booth areas must/should accommodate wheelchairs: Number of states 
with provisions: Statute or regulation 17,
Policy only 16. Number of states with no provision 18.
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Number 
of states with provisions: Statute or regulation 13,
Policy only 11. Number of states with no provision 27.
State provisions: Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: Number of states 
with provisions: Statute or regulation 3,
Policy only 3. Number of states with no provision 45.
Ballots with large type must/may be provided: Number of states with 
provisions: Statute or regulation 2,
Policy only 2. Number of states with no provision 47.
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Number of states with 
provisions: Statute or regulation 7,
Policy only 15. Number of states with no provision 29.
Footnote A: Policies for a particular provision were identified only if a 
state did not have either a statute or
regulation for that provision.
Source: GAO analysis of statutes, regulations, and other written provisions 
in 50 states and the
District of Columbia. Provision categories were identified based on our 
review of these legal and policy
documents.

Begin Page 18
Even when states have similar types of provisions, the extent to which the
provisions promote access varies considerably. For example, while some
states statutes recommend that all polling places be accessible, other
states require it without exception. In addition, some provisions are more
explicit or exacting in promoting access than others. For example,
according to one states statutes, all voting systems acquired on or after
September 1, 1999, must comply with Title II of the ADA and must provide
a practical and effective means for voters with most types of physical
disabilities to cast a secret ballot. (See Footnote 39.) In contrast, 
another states regulations
require a large-handled stylus for punching the ballot.
Counties Are Generally Responsible for Assuring Polling Place Accessibility, 
but Practices Vary
Consistent with the VAEHA, we found that primary responsibility for
assuring accessibility of polling places, through selecting, inspecting,
and/or modifying polling places or voting systems, typically rests with
counties or local governments. Although there are many similarities in how
counties carry out their responsibilities, there are also some key
differences in their approach and level of effort for assuring polling place
accessibility. For example, although counties and local governments are
generally responsible for selecting polling places, we estimate from our
county survey that, in at least 27 percent of all counties, accessibility to
people with disabilities is not cited among the criteria used in the 
selection
process. Additionally, while all polling places in at least 68 percent of 
all
counties are inspected by county or local governments to determine if they
meet voting accessibility policies, the frequency of these inspections 
varies
widely. Some polling places may be inspected as frequently as once a year,
while others may only be inspected upon selection or after a complaint or
remodeling. Moreover, in a few counties, polling places conduct their own
inspections.
Footnote 39: This states requirements do not cover disabilities involving 
the combined and complete
loss of both hearing and vision because, according to the state, the 
technology has not yet
been developed that will allow a voter with this combination of disabilities 
to cast a secret ballot.

Begin Page 19
In addition, it is the county or local election office that is generally
responsible for ensuring that polling places are accessible, such as by
making and financing any polling place modifications and purchasing
accessible voting equipment. Since 1995, in at least 32 percent of all
counties, temporary or permanent modifications were made to polling
places to improve their accessibility. (See Footnote 40.) With respect to 
acquiring accessible
voting equipment, county or local election officials in over 92 percent of 
all
counties have the authority to decide the type of voting machines to be
used. However, most states have established voting system standards with
which counties must comply; some of these state standards require
accommodations for individuals with disabilities, some do not.
While counties and local election officials typically have primary
responsibility for assuring the accessibility of polling places, table 2 
shows
that states provide varying types of assistance.

Table 2: State Practices in Assuring and Improving Polling Place 
Accessibility
Practice: Assuring accessibility: Provide counties with training or 
guidance, Number of states 25.
Select or inspect polling places, Number of states 5.
Both, Number of states 8.
Neither, Number of states 13.
Practice: Financing improvements to accessibility: Help fund polling place 
modifications, Number of states 3.
Help fund new voting systems, Number of states 9.
Both, Number of states 2.
Neither, Number of states 37.
Practice: Responding to voter complaints: Help respond to voter complaints, 
including access complaints, Number of states 42.
No policies/procedures for filing or reviewing accessibility complaints, 
Number of states 9.
Source: Interviews with state election officials in 50 states and the 
District of Columbia.
Moreover, the amount of assistance provided by states can vary widely for
similar types of assistance. For example, to assure accessibility of polling
places, one state conducts an annual accessibility survey of polling places,
Footnote 40: Examples of temporary modifications include portable ramps and 
temporary signs to
designate accessible parking areas and entryways for people with 
disabilities. Permanent
modifications include curb cuts and paved parking lots to accommodate 
wheelchairs.

Begin Page 20
provides inspection training for county officials, and performs inspections
of polling places. In contrast, another state only offers guidance to local
officials on how to comply with disability standards.
State Provisions and County Practices Regarding Alternative Voting Methods 
and Accommodations Vary
As shown in table 3, states provide alternative methods for voting on or
before Election Day, but vary in the number and kind of alternatives and
accommodations they make available to voters with disabilities. For
example, in accordance with the VAEHA, all states allow absentee voting
for voters with disabilities without notary or medical certification
requirements. (See Footnote 41.) However, the dates by which absentee 
ballots must be
received vary considerably, with some states requiring that, to be counted,
the ballot must be received before Election Day. In addition, 17 states
permit permanent absentee voting, allowing voters with disabilities to
receive absentee ballots on a continuing basis without reapplying for a
ballot before each election. Further, 19 states have provisions for 
notifying
voters in advance about the accessibility of their assigned polling places.
Other accommodations that some, but not all, states allow include curbside
voting; taking ballots to a voters residence; and allowing voters to use
another, more accessible polling location either on or before Election
Day. (See Footnote 42.) (See Appendix IV, table 10 for a detailed 
state-by-state listing of alternative
voting methods provided.)
Footnote 41: Some states do require that absentee voting ballots be 
witnessed by one or two persons.
Also, some states that allow absentee ballots or applications to be sent 
automatically to
voters with disabilities require a medical certificate to establish 
eligibility.
Footnote 42: Some states may not have provisions for certain accommodations 
or alternative voting
methods because they require all polling places to be accessible.

Begin Page 21
Table 3: State Provisions for Alternative Voting Methods and Accommodations
Methods and accommodations:
Absentee voting by mail (refer to Footnote A): Number of states Permitting 
51.
Ballot due before Election Day: Number of states Permitting 5.
Ballot due on Election Day: Number of states Permitting 36.
Ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote B): Number of 
states Permitting 10.
No provision on absentee voting: Number of states No provision 0.
Methods and accommodations: Permanent absentee voting: Number of states 
Permitting 17.
With restrictions: (refer to Footnote C): Number of states Permitting 10.
Without restrictions: Number of states Permitting 7.
No provision on permanent absentee voting: Number of states No provision 34.
Methods and accommodations: Curbside voting on Election Day (refer to 
Footnote D): Number of states: Permitting 28, No provision 19.
Methods and accommodations: Ballot can be taken to voter's residence on or 
before Election Day (refer to Footnote E): Number of states: Permitting 21, 
No provision 25.
Methods and accommodations: Use of alternative, accessible polling place on 
Election Day: Number of states: Permitting 27, No provision 24.
Methods and accommodations: Early voting: Number of states Permitting 39.
With provision requiring accessible location: Number of states Permitting 
16.
No provision regarding accessible location: Number of states Permitting 23.
No provision on early voting: Number of states No provision 12.
Methods and accommodations: Advance notice of inaccessible polling place: 
Number of states: Permitting 19, No provision 32.
Note: Some states may not have provisions for certain accommodations or 
alternative voting methods
because they require all polling places to be accessible.
Footnote A: See Appendix IV, table 10 for additional information on absentee 
voting, including absentee voting in
person or by personal representative. Absentee voting provisions for 
overseas or military voters, and
for emergencies, are not included in this analysis.
Footnote B: Most of these states require ballots to be postmarked on or 
before Election Day.
Footnote C: Examples of restrictions include medical certification 
requirements, or availability limited to voters with
certain disabilities.
Footnote D: Not included in the table are four states that prohibit curbside 
voting.
Footnote E: Not included in the table are five states that prohibit taking a 
ballot to a voter's residence.
Source: GAO analysis of statues, regulations, and other written provisions 
provided by election officials
in 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Although states may offer similar types of voting alternatives and
accommodations, wide variation exists in how these alternatives and
accommodations are implemented. For example, one state requires that all
registered voters be notified of the accessibility of their polling place by
mail at least 21 days before the election. The notice must inform the voter
of his or her right to curbside voting or to vote by absentee ballot. In
comparison, another state only recommends that a list of accessible polling
places be published in a newspaper no later than 4 days before the election.

Begin Page 22
Finally, in states that have no provisions for particular alternative voting
methods or accommodations, county and local government practices may
vary. For example, in a number of states that have no provision for
curbside voting, we found that some counties and local governments offer
curbside voting and some do not. Similarly, in a number of states that
lacked provisions for allowing voters to use an alternative voting place on
Election Day, our county survey data showed that some counties and local
governments offer this alternative and some do not.
Most Polling Places Have Features That May Impede Access, but Most Also
Provide Accommodations That May Facilitate Voting
Voting access for people with disabilities may be impeded by a variety of
physical features at polling places; however, accommodations to facilitate
voting are often made available. Although the extent to which any given
feature may prevent access is unknown, most polling places in the
contiguous United States have one or more physical features that may pose
challenges for voters with disabilities. These features include a lack of
accessible parking and barriers en route from the parking area to the voting
room. Figure 2 shows key features we examined. Such potential
impediments can be found at all types of buildings, both public and private.
Additionally, the voting methods and equipment used inside polling places
may pose challenges for some voters with disabilities. However, polling
places generally provide accommodations, such as curbside voting, voting
stations designed for people with disabilities, and voter assistance inside
the voting room.

Begin Page 23
Polling Place Facilities
From our observations on Election Day, we estimate that, from the parking
area to the voting room, 16 percent of all polling places in the contiguous
United States have no potential impediments, 56 percent have one or more
potential impediments but offer curbside voting, and 28 percent have one
or more potential impediments and do not offer curbside voting. (See 
Footnote 43.) (See figure 3.) These potential impediments would primarily 
affect individuals with
mobility impairments. Although curbside voting is not available at a
number of polling places with potential impediments, as noted earlier, all
states have provisions for absentee voting, and many states provide for
other alternative voting methods or accommodations that may facilitate
voting by people with disabilities on or before Election Day. (See Footnote 
44.)
Footnote 43: About 12 percent of all polling places have no potential 
impediments and offer curbside
voting.
Footnote 44: For example, a number of states allow absentee ballots to be 
cast by mail on Election Day.
In addition, some state laws and policies allow ballots to be taken to 
voters residences on
or before Election Day, or allow voters to cast their ballots at another 
location that is
accessible on Election Day.

Begin Page 24
Figure 2: Key Features at Polling Places
A two page illustration of a building used as a polling place that loosely 
depicts some of the key features
we observed at polling places on Election Day. Text boxes on page one of the 
illustration list specific
features we observed in four areas of a polling place, as follows. Text box 
A. Parking area. A1. On or off
street parking is designated for persons with disabilities. Text box B. 
Route from parking area to building
entrance. B1. Surface is paved or has no abrupt changes over one-quarter 
inch. B2. Curbs are ramped or
cut, and are 36 inches or more wide. B3. Path or ramp along path is 36 
inches or more wide (may narrow
to 32 inches for no more than 2 feet). B4. Slope of path or ramp along path 
is no steeper than a one inch
rise over twelve inches in distance. B5. Steps have handrails that extend at 
least one foot beyond the
landing. B6. Ramps have two handrails (one on each side) if highest point is 
more than six inches off the
ground. Text box C. Entrance area to the building. C1. Doorway threshold 
does not exceed one half inch
in height. C2. Single or double-door openings are 32 inches or more wide. 
C3. Closed door difficult for a
person in a wheelchair to open. Text box D. Curbside voting. D1. Voting 
available at curbside.

Begin Page 25
Text boxes on page two of the illustration list features we observed in two 
areas inside the polling place
facility, as follows. Text box E. Route from inside the building entrance to 
the voting room. E1. Doorway
threshold does not exceed one half inch in height. E2. Single or double-door 
openings are 32 inches or
more wide. E3. Steps are not required to reach the voting room. E4. 
Corridors have clearances 36 inches
or more wide (may narrow to 32 inches for no more than 2 feet). E5. Slope of 
ramp no steeper than a one
inch rise over twelve inches in distance. Text box F. Voting Stations. F1. 
Voting stations configured for
sitting can accommodate a wheelchair. F2. Voting stations configured for 
standing have forward reach no
lower than fifteen inches and no higher than 48 inches. F3. Voting stations 
configured for standing have
side reach no lower than nine inches and no higher than 54 inches.

Begin Page 26
Figure 3: Prevalence of Potential Impediments at Polling Places and 
Availability of Curbside Voting
A pie chart with three slices representing the prevalence of potential 
impediments at polling places and
availability of curbside voting. Slice one indicates that 16 percent of 
polling places have no potential
impediments. Slice two indicates that 56 percent of polling places have one 
or more potential impediments
and offer curbside voting. Slice three indicates that 28 percent of polling 
places have one or more potential
impediments but do not offer curbside voting.
Note: These potential impediments are located along the route from the 
parking area to the voting room.
Source: GAO analysis of polling place data collected on November 7, 2000.
As shown in figure 4, most polling places with potential impediments also
offer curbside voting: of the 84 percent of polling places that have one or
more potential impediments, 67 percent offer curbside voting. Figure 4
also shows that most of the potential impediments occur in two of the four
location areas we examineden route from the parking area to the
building, and at the entrance of the building. For example, 57 percent of 
all
polling places have some type of potential impediment from the parking
area to the building, such as unpaved/poor surfaces, or paths or ramps with
slopes that exceed the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility
Guidelines, (refer to Footnote 45) which could hinder the approach of a 
voter in a wheelchair.
Appendix V contains a listing of some of the potential impediments in each
location area.
Footnote 45: The 1991 Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility 
Guidelines for Buildings and
Facilities require that slopes on sidewalks/pathways or ramps rise no more 
than 1 inch over
a 12-inch distance; that is, a slope no steeper than a one inch rise over 
twelve inches in distance. The Guidelines are generally
mandatory for new construction and for alterations of public buildings, 
places of public
accommodations such as private schools, and commercial facilities. Places of 
worship are exempt.

Begin Page 27
Figure 4: Percentage of Polling Places With Potential Impediments That Offer 
Curbside Voting (refer to Footnote A)
A series of five pie charts showing the percentage of polling places with 
potential impediments that offer
curbside voting by location area. Chart one examines the entire route from 
the parking area to the voting
room showing that 84 percent of all polling places have potential 
impediments and of these, 67 percent
offer curbside voting. Chart two examines the parking area showing that 33 
percent of all polling places
have potential impediments in the parking area and of these, 71 percent 
offer curbside voting. Chart three
examines the route from parking area to the building entrance showing that 
57 percent of all polling places
have potential impediments from the parking area to the building entrance 
and of these, 64 percent offer
curbside voting. Chart four examines the entrance of the building showing 
that 59 percent of all polling
places have potential impediments at the entrance of the building and of 
these, 62 percent offer curbside
voting. And Chart five examines the route from the inside of the building to 
the voting room showing that
14 percent of all polling places have potential impediments from the inside 
of the building to the voting
room and of these, 63 percent offer curbside voting.
Footnote A: Sampling errors on the percentages of polling places with 
potential impediments range from 4 to 8
percentage points at the 95-percent confidence level; the sampling errors on 
the percentages of polling
places offering curbside voting range from 10 to 16 percentage points at the 
95-percent confidence level.
Source: GAO analysis of polling place data collected on November 7, 2000.
We also found that many polling places have more than one potential
impediment, some of which occur in more than one location area. For
example, figure 5 shows that 63 percent of all polling places have two or
more potential impediments. Further, in the four location areas we
examined, we found that 52 percent of polling places have potential
impediments in more than one location area. A small percentage of all

Begin Page 28
polling places (5 percent) have a potential impediment in all four location
areas.
Figure 5: Percentage of All Polling Places by Number of Potential 
Impediments
A bar chart with a vertical axis displaying percentages (from zero to 100) 
of all polling places and a
horizontal axis displaying the number of potential impediments (from zero to 
six or more). Seven bars
represent the following percentages. Bar one indicates that of all polling 
places, 16 percent have zero
potential impediments. Bar two indicates that of all polling places, 84 
percent have one or more potential
impediments. Bar three indicates that of all polling places, 63 percent have 
two or more potential
impediments. Bar four indicates that of all polling places, 45 percent have 
three or more potential
impediments. Bar five indicates that of all polling places, 29 percent have 
four or more potential
impediments. Bar six indicates that of all polling places, 21 percent have 
five or more potential
impediments. And bar seven indicates that of all polling places, 14 percent 
have six or more potential
impediments.
Notes: Thirteen was the maximum number of potential impediments we found at 
any one polling place.
Sampling errors range from 4 to 8 percentage points at the 95-percent 
confidence level.
Source: GAO analysis of polling place data collected on November 7, 2000.
Our polling place data also show that potential impediments to access
occur at fairly high rates regardless of the type of building used as a 
polling
place. Table 4 shows that, for each type of building, 76 percent or more
have potential impediments to voting access for people with disabilities.

Begin Page 29
Table 4: Prevalence of Potential Impediments by Type of Building
Type of building: School: Percentage of all polling places 24%,  Percentage 
of buildings with at least one
potential impediment 78%.
Type of building: Library or recreational/community center: Percentage of 
all polling places 21%, Percentage of
buildings with at least one potential impediment 90%.
Type of building: House of worship: Percentage of all polling places 18%, 
Percentage of buildings with at least one
potential impediment 82%.
Type of building: City/town hall or courthouse: Percentage of all polling 
places 14%, Percentage of buildings with at least one
potential impediment 91%.
Type of building: Police/fire station: Percentage of all polling places 9%, 
Percentage of buildings with at least one
potential impediment 76%.
Type of building: Private home: Percentage of all polling places 4%, 
Percentage of buildings with at least one
potential impediment 93%.
Type of building: Other (refer to Footnote A): Percentage of all polling 
places 10%, Percentage of buildings with at least one
potential impediment 78%.
Note: Sampling errors for the types of buildings as a percentage of all 
polling places range from 3 to 6
percentage points at the 95-percent confidence level; the sampling errors on 
the percentage of these
buildings with potential impediments range from 8 to 15 percentage points at 
the 95-percent
confidence level.
Footnote A: Includes National Guard Armories, lodges and fraternal 
organizations, apartment buildings, and
private businesses.
Source: GAO analysis of polling place data collected on November 7, 2000.
Moreover, about 70 percent of all polling places are in facilitiessuch as
schools, recreational/community centers, city/town halls, police/fire
stations, libraries, and courthousespotentially subject to either Title II 
or
III of the ADA, irrespective of their use as polling places. (Refer to 
Footnote 46.) Our polling
place data show that, of the polling places located in these types of
facilities, about 84 percent have one or more features that may present
challenges to physical access for voters with disabilities. (Refer to 
Footnote 47.) Potential
impediments found at these facilities include high door thresholds, ramps
with steep slopes, and a lack of accessible parking. However, under the
ADA, only new construction and alterations must be readily accessible, and
we did not determine the date that polling place facilities were either
constructed or altered. In addition, due to the number of possible
Footnote 46: As noted previously, Title II, Subtitle A, which applies to 
state and local governments,
requires that public programs, services, and activities be accessible to 
individuals with
disabilities (42 U.S.C. sections 12131 to 12134). Title III requires 
reasonable modifications in
policies, practices, or procedures to be made by public accommodations to 
achieve
accessibility for people with disabilities (42 U.S.C. section 12182(b)). 
Also, new
construction and alteration of existing facilities by state and local 
governments, public
accommodations, and commercial facilities generally must be readily 
accessible to
individuals with disabilities (42 U.S.C. section 12183(b)(2)).
Footnote 47: Sampling error of plus or minus 6 percentage points at the 
95-percent confidence level.

Begin Page 30
approaches for meeting ADA requirements on accessibility to public
services and because places of public accommodation need remove
barriers only where it is easy to do so, our data do not allow us to
determine whether polling places with potential impediments would meet
ADA requirements.
Inside the Voting Room
Inside the voting room, many of the voting methods and the equipment
used may prove challenging for voters with certain types of disabilities.
Figure 6 shows that the use of ballots marked by a pen or pencil
traditional paper ballots and mark-sense ballots used with optical scanning
equipmentis the most widespread voting method. This method is
followed in prevalence by punch-card ballots, direct recording electronic
(electronic) voting equipment, and lever machines. Table 5 details the
potential challenges these methods may present to voters with visual or
dexterity impairments. (Refer to Footnote 48.) In addition, voters in 
wheelchairs may have
difficulty reaching and manipulating the handles on lever machines, and
they also may find it difficult to reach and press the buttons on electronic
voting equipment. Although electronic voting equipment may pose
challenges for some voters with disabilities, some types of this method may
be adapted with audio and other aids to accommodate a range of impairments.
Footnote 48: We identified these challenges from interviews with election 
officials and representatives
of disability organizations. We did not observe whether voters encountered 
difficulties
using these methods.

Begin Page 31
Figure 6: Voting Methods Used at Polling Places
A pie chart with four slices depicting the percentage of polling places 
using each voting method and an
explanation of each method. Slice one indicates that 43 percent of polling 
places use traditional paper or
mark-sense ballots (refer to Footnote A). Voters mark boxes or ovals on a 
paper ballot using a pen or pencil.
Officials hand count paper ballots and optically scan mark-sense ballots. 
Slice two indicates that 21 percent
of polling places use Punch-card ballots (refer to Footnote B). Voters punch 
out a box on a computer-readable
card corresponding to each ballot choice. Officials use a computerized 
tabulation machine to count the holes in
the ballots. Slice three indicates that 17 percent of polling places use a 
Lever machine. Voters pull a lever next
to the ballot choice. Officials read machine-generated totals. And slice 
four indicates that 19 percent of polling
places use Electronic voting equipment. Voters push a button or touch a 
computer screen to indicate ballot choices
that are posted or displayed on a computer screen. Officials read the vote 
totals stored on each machine's computer chip.
Note: Sampling errors range from 9 to 13 percentage points at the 95-percent 
confidence level.
Footnote A: According to 2000 Election Data Services data, about 3 percent 
of all precincts use traditional handcounted
paper ballots.
Footnote B: We observed two types of equipment used with punch-card ballots: 
Votomatic and Datavote.
Source: GAO analysis of polling place data collected on November 7, 2000.

Table 5: Potential Challenges Posed by Various Voting Methods
Voting method: Paper or mark-sense ballots: Potential challenges for voters 
with Dexterity impairments: Holding the pencil or pen,
Visual impairments: Reading the text on the ballots.
Voting method: Punch-card ballots: Potential challenges for voters with 
Dexterity impairments: Pinpointing the stylus, or
applying the appropriate amount of pressure to punch holes, Visual 
impairments: Pinpointing the stylus, or reading the text
on the ballots.
Voting method: Electronic voting equipment: Potential challenges for voters 
with Dexterity impairments: Pressing the buttons or images on the machine,
Visual impairments: Reading the text on the screen or the machine.
Voting method: Lever machine: Potential challenges for voters with Dexterity 
impairments: Manipulating the handles to operate the machine,
Visual impairments: Reading the text, or manipulating the handles to operate 
the machine.
Source: GAO interviews with election officials and representatives of 
disability organizations.

Begin Page 32
For voters experiencing difficulties using these various voting methods, we
found that one or more accommodations may be provided. Nearly all
polling places allow voters to be assisted either by a friend or a poll
worker. (Refer to Footnote 49.) Forty-seven percent of all polling places 
provide magnifying
devices to assist voters with visual impairments. (Refer to Footnote 50.) 
Additionally, 51 percent
of all polling places provide voting instructions or sample ballots in 18 
point or larger type. (Refer to Footnote 51.) However, none of the polling 
places that we visited
had special ballots or voting equipment adapted for blind voters, such as
audiotaped ballots, or Braille ballots or sleeves. (Refer to Footnote 52.)
The configuration of voting stations, tables, or booths used in polling
places may pose additional challenges for voters in wheelchairs. Fifty-two
percent of all polling places have voting stations set up for people to sit 
and
vote, 38 percent have stations set up for people to stand and vote, and 10
percent have stations set up for either seated or standing voting. (Refer to 
Footnote 53.) At voting
stations configured for sitting, 43 percent do not have the minimum height,
width, or depth dimensions to position a wheelchair under a table. (Refer to 
Footnote 54.)
Moreover, many of the voting booths configured for standing have one or
more features that might create an impediment for a voter in a wheelchair.
For example, 51 percent of the booths configured for standing do not
accommodate a voter in a wheelchair who has to reach forward to mark or
cast a ballot, and 55 percent do not accommodate a person in a wheelchair
who has to reach sideways to vote. (Refer to Footnote 55.) However, as noted 
earlier, nearly all
polling places allow a friend or poll worker to assist with voting.
Footnote 49: As noted previously, under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as 
amended, voters requiring
assistance to vote may be given assistance by a person of their choosing, 
such as a friend or
an election official.
Footnote 50: Sampling error of plus or minus 11 percentage points at the 
95-percent confidence level.
Footnote 51: Sampling error of plus or minus 11 percentage points at the 
95-percent confidence level.
Footnote 52: A Braille sleeve is an overlay that covers a ballot, or a 
sheath into which a ballot is inserted.
The sleeve is aligned so that the Braille corresponds to the items on the 
ballot. A person
marks through the sleeve in order to cast his/her vote.
Footnote 53: Sampling errors range from 5 to 11 percentage points at the 
95-percent confidence level.
Footnote 54: Sampling error of plus or minus 13 percentage points at the 
95-percent confidence level.
Footnote 55: Sampling errors for the side and forward-reach findings are 
plus or minus 17 percentage points at the
95-percent confidence level.

Begin Page 33
A Variety of Challenges Face States and Counties as They Work Toward 
Improving
Access to Voting
Although a number of efforts have been made to improve voting access for
people with disabilities, election officials cited a variety of challenges 
they
face in trying to do so. Challenges cited by election officials include the
limited availability of accessible buildings and the lack of authority to
modify buildings to make them more accessible. Election officials also told
us that the cost of acquiring voting equipment that is more accessible is
another major challenge. Finally, election officials cited a number of 
legal,
administrative, and operational challenges associated with implementing
accommodations and voting alternatives that might make voting more
accessible. Nevertheless, a number of states and counties have been
successful at surmounting some of these difficulties.
Improving Polling Place Accessibility Hindered by the Lack of Accessible
Buildings and Authority or Funds to Modify Them
Some counties find that a major challenge to improving polling place
accessibility is a lack of accessible buildings, according to our national
survey of county election officials. Comments from both state and county
election officials indicate that problems finding accessible buildings can
occur in both rural and urban locations. For example, in rural areas, the
lack of buildings or the existence of rough terrain can create difficulties;
whereas in cities, a lack of parking or the prevalence of older buildings 
that
may be not accessible can be a problem.
However, even when accessible buildings exist in an area, election officials
may lack the authority to use them. While some county election officials
told us they had the authority to use public buildings as polling places,
other officials indicated that they did not have this authority. 
Furthermore,
states and counties generally lack the authority to require the owners of
private buildings to make their buildings available for elections. According
to our survey results, at least 26 percent of all counties find it difficult 
to
provide accessible polling places because buildings are under the control
of persons who do not want them to be used as polling places. In addition,
while at least 86 percent of the counties can provide private building
owners some compensation for the use of their buildings, the amount may
be limited to paying janitorial costs or a small usage feesometimes less
than $100 per facilitywhich may not serve as a persuasive incentive.
One option for overcoming the limited supply of accessible buildings is to
modify buildings, for example by installing ramps or widening doorways.
While election officials have reported some success with this option, some
indicated that their ability to make modifications has been impeded by
authority limitations and funding constraints. For publicly held buildings,

Begin Page 34
we found that the county or local election office has the authority to order
permanent modifications to public polling places in less than one-third of
the counties. For privately held buildings, election officials generally 
need
the owners permission to make temporary or permanent modifications. In
addition, some state and county election officials indicated that funding
constraints could also limit needed modifications. Despite these
limitations, we estimate that, in at least 32 percent of all counties, one 
or
more polling places may have been modified, either temporarily or
permanently, since 1995 to improve accessibility. Furthermore, while
election officials may not have the authority or funding to alleviate all
accessibility problems, there may still be opportunities for some
improvements, such as using signs to designate accessible parking and
pathways.
Providing Accessible Voting Equipment Is Hindered by Funding Constraints and
Concerns about Reliability and Security
Most state election officials told us that limited funding is one of the 
main
barriers to improving voting accessibility, especially with regard to
providing more accessible voting equipment. While some states may
provide funds to ease this burden, according to our county survey, the
county and local levels of government generally bear the cost for
purchasing, leasing, or modifying voting equipment. Although a number of
election officials and disability advocates we interviewed agreed that the
new electronic voting equipment can accommodate a wider range of
disabilities than other voting methods, they also expressed concern that it
can be expensive, despite dramatic price reductions in the recent past. 
(Refer to Footnote 56.) At
the time of our interviews, election officials estimated that each 
electronic
voting unit can cost from $3,000 to about $6,000, with attachments to
enable voting by people with various disabilities costing up to an 
additional
$1,000 per unit. (Refer to Footnote 57.) Moreover, competing priorities for 
funding at a local level
may limit funding for improving voting accessibility, according to several
election officials we interviewed. For example, counties needing road
Footnote 56: Currently, a number of counties are looking to acquire new 
voting systemselectronic
voting equipment or optical scanning systems. In comparing these systems, in 
addition to
initial costs, counties would likely consider recurring costs (such as the 
cost of printing
ballots, programming, training staff, operating and maintaining equipment, 
and storage) as
well as other factors (such as reliability, security, voter accessibility, 
and ease of use and
administration). An upcoming GAO report will provide information on the 
cost, security,
efficiency, accuracy, and ease of use of voting systems.
Footnote 57: These attachments vary by manufacturer and might include audio 
features for voters who
are blind or visually impaired, or features that would allow people with 
severe disabilities to
vote using breathing or head movements.

Begin Page 35
improvements may decide to pave roads rather than purchase or lease new
voting equipment.
In addition to costs, concerns about the reliability and security of
electronic equipment can discourage its adoption, according to election
officials we interviewed. For example, without the traditional paper ballot
to rely upon, some election officials fear that the equipment could be
tampered with to produce unreliable or fraudulent election outcomes. One
state official told us that several of the counties in his state that are
accustomed to paper ballots do not want electronic voting machines, even
if the state pays for them. Also state election official told us that some
officials are concerned because this newer technology does not create
traditional paper ballots and would not, therefore, allow for a standard
ballot recount to verify the election outcome. However, newer electronic
systems have enhancements that allow voters to confirm their selections
and that improve the ability of election officials to verify election 
results.
Although some counties indicated that they had purchased or were
considering the purchase of newer electronic voting equipment, a number
have indicated that they had made improvements to their existing
equipment to enhance voter accessibility. For example, some counties
reported modifying existing voting machinesfor example, by making
them adjustableso that individuals who need to vote in a sitting position
can vote independently. Some counties using punch-card equipment
reported providing a larger stylus to make it easier for those who could not
grip or otherwise vote using a regular stylus. Also, some county officials
told us that, upon request, they try to provide special aidssuch as Braille
sleeves for the paper ballot and an accompanying audiotape or Braille
ballotsso that blind individuals can vote independently, although we did
not observe such aids on Election Day. (Refer to Footnote 58.)
While incremental improvements to older voting technology may enable
more people with disabilities to vote independently, some election officials
and disability advocates we interviewed believe these measures have
shortcomings. For example, according to spokespersons for national
advocacy groups for people with disabilities, blind voters may not be
comfortable with audiotapes because using them is time-consuming and
Footnote 58: Special aids for the blind may not have been observed on 
Election Day because they may
not have been requested in advance by voters in the polling places that we 
visited or the
local poll workers we interviewed may not have been aware of these aids.

Begin Page 36
does not allow them to independently confirm that they marked their
ballots correctly. Moreover, only a small percentage of blind individuals
have the Braille proficiency needed to vote using a Braille ballot. In
addition, some voters with severe dexterity problems may not be able to
mark their ballots even with a larger punching stylus or special writing
implement.
Alternative Voting Methods and Accommodations Provide Options, but Also
Present Access and Implementation Challenges
Expanding the availability of alternative voting methods or
accommodations can provide voters with additional options, but
implementing these changes can present election officials with legal,
administrative, and operational challenges. For example, expanding the
use of curbside voting could allow more voters with disabilities to cast
their votes at neighborhood polling places on Election Day. For election
officials, implementing curbside voting requires having staff trained and
available to assist voters outside the polling place. Moreover, in some
states where curbside voting is either prohibited or not currently used,
policy makers would need to be convinced that providing this
accommodation would not increase the potential for fraud as a result of
ballots being taken out of the polling place facility. Disability advocates
told us that this accommodation and other alternatives represent important
and needed options for some voters with disabilities; at the same time,
advocates believe that such alternatives do not provide an equal
opportunity to vote in the same manner as the general public and should
not be viewed as permanent solutions for inaccessible polling places.
Given the limited availability of accessible polling places, other options
that could allow more voters with disabilities to vote at a polling place on
Election Day include reassigning them to another, more accessible polling
place or creating accessible superprecincts in which voters from more than
one precinct would all vote in the same building. For voters with
disabilities, reassignment to more accessible polling places may require
them to travel farther to vote. For election officials, some challenges to
reassigning voters are ensuring that they have notified the voter, trained
poll workers, and provided an appropriate ballot at the reassigned location.
In comparison, superprecincts could inconvenience many voters by
requiring extra travel for those whose polling place was relocated. The
challenge in creating a superprecinct that is also accessible is finding an
accessible facility of sufficient size and amenities to meet the needs of a
large number of voters.

Begin Page 37
In addition, some alternatives and accommodations allow individuals to
vote before Election Day, including voting in person at early voting sites 
or
using less restrictive absentee voting options, such as no excuse or
permanent absentee voting. (Refer to Footnote 59.) Some voters may prefer 
voting before
Election Day because it provides greater flexibility and convenience. For
example, some voters with disabilities may want to use an absentee voting
alternative and may find permanent absentee voting more convenient than
reapplying every election. However, the various limitations and
requirements of these voting options, such as traveling to an early voting
site or providing a doctors certification to qualify for permanent absentee
voting, may discourage the use of these options by some voters with
disabilities whose only obstacle to voting as others do is an inaccessible
polling place. For election officials, establishing early voting sites and
expanding the number of absentee voters add to the cost and complexity of
running an election. In addition, some election officials told us that
policy makers in their states are reluctant to adopt or expand voting
optionsfor example, to allow permanent absentee votingbecause they
fear it may increase the risk of fraud. At the same time, these options have
been adopted by a number of states. A unique early voting option chosen
by Oregons voters is universal vote-by-mail. While there were challenges
in implementing this method, such as establishing uniform statewide voting
procedures, there have also been benefits, such as reducing the cost of
holding an election, according to an Oregon election official.
Footnote 59: No excuse absentee voting is available to all votersthat is, 
voters do not need to give a
reason to vote absentee.

Begin Page 38
Internet votingan alternative that has been only used on a limited basis to
datealso presents increased participation opportunities and
implementation challenges. (Refer to Footnote 60.) Internet voting could 
potentially provide
voters the convenience of voting from remote locations, such as their
homes, and thereby provide another option for increasing voter
participation. However, numerous election officials and others have
expressed concerns about the security and reliability of the Internet and
lack of widespread access to it. To resolve these issues, task force studies
have suggested that Internet voting could be introduced in phases. (Refer to 
Footnote 61.)
Appendix VI provides a summary of the wide assortment of issues and
challenges for each voting accommodation and alternative method
discussed above.
Footnote 60: There have been several Internet voting pilots and 
demonstrations in the last 2 years,
including (1) the Republican Party straw poll in Alaska; (2) the 
Presidential Primary in
Thurston, Washington; (3) the Democratic Party Primary in Arizona; and (4) 
the Presidential
Election, in which the Department of Defense piloted on-line voting for 
about 100 personnel
from the states of South Carolina, Florida, Texas, and Utah. In other pilot 
tests, four
counties in California held on-line voting demonstrations prior to Election 
Day and one
county in Arizona held them on Election Day.
Footnote 61: These phases might include first offering Internet voting only 
at polling places, where
election officials could better ensure the security and reliability of the 
connection, and then
expanding it to kiosks and other remote locations. See California Internet 
Voting Task
Force, A Report on the Feasibility of Internet Voting (January 2000); and 
Internet Policy
Institute, Report of the National Workshop on Internet Voting: Issues and 
Research Agenda
(March 2001).

Begin Page 39
We are sending copies of this report to the Department of Justice, the
Federal Election Commission, the Architectural and Transportation
Barriers Compliance Board (the Access Board), appropriate congressional
committees, and other interested parties. We will also make copies
available to others on request. If you or your staff have any questions
concerning this report, please call me or Carol Dawn Petersen, Assistant
Director, at (202) 512-7215. Staff acknowledgments are listed in appendix
VII.
Barbara D. Bovbjerg
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues

Begin Page 40
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
This appendix provides more detail about the procedures used to conduct
our legal analysis, collect information from states and counties, and select
our sample of polling places. It also provides more information about the
final sample of polling places that was used in our analysis, as well as
details about the analysis itself.
Analysis of State Laws and Written Policies
Our review of state provisions for assuring voting accessibility included a
review of laws (statutes and regulations) and written policies related to
accessibility of polling places and alternative voting methods and
accommodations.
With respect to polling place accessibility, our review focused on state
provisions concerning accessibility standards, inspection and reporting
requirements, voting booth and system accommodations, and aids for
voters with visual impairments. With respect to alternative voting methods
and accommodations, our review focused on state provisions concerning
early voting and absentee voting (including methods and deadlines),
permanent absentee voting (including restrictions), curbside voting, taking
ballots to voters residences, assigning voters to more accessible polling
places, and notifying voters in advance of inaccessible polling places.
To identify relevant laws and written policies, we first interviewed
appropriate election officials in 50 states and the District of Columbia to
discuss their laws and policies concerning polling place accessibility and
alternative voting methods. We asked these officials to provide us with
legal citations to laws and copies of written policies on any state policies
they identified. In addition to the information provided by state election
officials, we researched legal databases and the Internet to identify any
additional state statutes, regulations, and written policies concerning
polling place accessibility or alternative voting methods or
accommodations. We did not include emergency provisions or provisions
applicable only to military, out-of-state, or overseas voters.
To determine a states provisions concerning polling place accessibility or
alternative voting methods or accommodations, we first reviewed state
statutes. If state statutes did not specifically address the issue, we then
reviewed any applicable regulations. In the absence of an applicable
statute or regulation, we reviewed written policies and guidelines we
identified and collected or had been provided by the state. After
determining each states provisions, and whether the provisions were
based in state law or written policy, we shared our determinations with

Begin Page 41
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
each state election office. We reviewed changes suggested by state
election offices, reviewed any additional documents submitted, and
adjusted our determinations where appropriate. We generally deferred to
interpretations by a state of its own statutory or regulatory provisions.
However, as a rule, we did not include policies or practices that were not
supported by a written document.
Data Collection From States, Counties, and Selected National Organizations
To identify efforts and challenges to improving voting accessibility for
people with disabilities, we interviewed election officials in all 50 states
and the District of Columbia, as well as in our statistical sample of 100
counties. (Refer to Footnote 1.) We also interviewed selected 
representatives of national
organizations representing states, counties, and people with disabilities to
obtain their views on the costs of accessible equipment and the extent to
which alternative voting methods and accommodations improve access for
voters with disabilities. We did not independently verify the information
provided by election officials or organization representatives through our
interviews.
Our interviews of election officials in the 50 states and the District of
Columbia focused on state laws concerning absentee voting requirements,
as well as laws, regulations, and written policies concerning voting access
for people with disabilities. We also asked for information about the 
states
role in assuring compliance with state policy, or providing or controlling
resources for assuring compliance. Other topics covered in the interview
were the states role in making polling places accessible, the voting 
systems
used in the state, any efforts initiated by the states to increase voting
access for people with disabilities, and whether they perceived any barriers
or constraints to such efforts.
For the 100 counties, we generally contacted county election officials
because in most states responsibility for conducting elections is entrusted
to them. However, in four counties we contacted election officials at a
subcounty level, such as towns and cities, where the responsibility for
elections resides. We then combined their responses to create county level
responses.
Footnote 1: Selection of the counties is discussed in the next section on 
selection of polling places.

Begin Page 42
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
In contacting the 100 counties we intended to visit on Election Day, we
generally conducted two interviewsone before Election Day and one
after. The first interview was designed to alert appropriate election
officials to the nature of our inquiry and to ask for their cooperation so 
that
we could visit polling places in their counties on Election Day. (Refer to 
Footnote 2.) We also
asked for information about county laws or policies on voting access for
people with disabilities, as well as county practices such as assessment and
inspection of polling places, choice of buildings to be used as polling
places, choice of voting methods and machines, and efforts for
improvements in accessibility.
Our second interview with county and local election officials was
conducted after Election Day and was designed to collect more
information about county practices in selecting polling places, obtaining
and using voting equipment, and handling voter complaints, as well as
accessibility of polling places and voting methods in the county and steps
the county may take when a polling place is not accessible. In addition, we
asked for information about types of facilities used in conducting an
election and resources for meeting accessibility standards and improving
accessibility. We also asked for information about voter participation,
extent of polling place resources, and officials opinions about major
barriers and constraints to improving accessibility to voting for people 
with
disabilities. (Refer to Footnote 3.)
For our interviews with election officials from states and counties, we used
three data collection instruments (DCIs) to ensure that questions were
asked, and responses were documented, in a consistent manner. The DCIs-
one for the state interviews and two for the county interviews--were
developed in consultation with GAO methodologists. To further ensure
reliable and accurate results, the DCIs were administered by GAO staff
who were trained to administer them.
Our interviews with selected representatives of national organizations
were designed to collect more in-depth information on the cost and
challenges of acquiring more-accessible voting equipment, and on the
challenges and benefits of implementing alternative voting methods and
Footnote 2: Some interviews with county officials before Election Day 
covered only the logistics of our
visits, and in these cases all other questions were covered in the second 
interview.
Footnote 3: Some counties were unable to respond to some of our questions; 
the data from these
questions therefore yielded inconclusive results and are not included in 
this report.

Begin Page 43
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
accommodations. GAO staff asked each representative the same set of
questions to ensure we obtained comprehensive and balanced views on
each issue.
Selection of Polling Places
Our selection of a sample of polling places used what is known as a two 
stage
sampling method. The first stage was the selection of a sample of
counties. Each of those counties was then treated as a cluster of polling
places. In the second stage, we selected a sample of polling places from
each cluster.
Because there is no central list of all of the polling places in the United
States, the first stage of our sampling method started with a list of all
counties, since most elections are administered at the county level. (Refer 
to Footnote 4.) For
cost and efficiency reasons we confined our list of counties to those in the
contiguous United States, thus excluding the states of Alaska and Hawaii.
We also excluded the state of Oregon because, since 1998, elections in that
state have been conducted almost exclusively by mail. The final number of
counties from which we sampled was 3,074. Because the unit of analysis
we were ultimately interested in was the polling place, we used a
probability proportional to size sampling method to select the counties. We
wanted to base the probability that a particular county would be selected
on the number of polling places in that county, so that counties with many
polling places would be more likely to be selected than counties with few.
Since information on the number of polling places in each county is not
readily available, we based our selection of counties on the size of the
voting-age population of each county (age 18 and over), with more populous
counties more likely to be selected than less-populous counties.
We considered the voting-age population to be an acceptable correlate to
the number of polling places. We therefore arranged our list of counties so
that, for each county, the probability of selection would be proportional to
the size of its voting-age population. We then randomly selected, without
replacement, 100 counties from that list.
Footnote 4: To identify counties we used the Census Bureaus Population 
Estimates for Counties by
Age and Sex: Annual Time Series (1998). From this database we pulled the 
Federal
Information Processing Standard codes for counties and other entities 
treated as legal
and/or statistical subdivisions. The following entities are listed by the 
U.S. Census Bureau
as equivalent to counties: parishes in Louisiana; the District of Columbia; 
and the
independent cities in Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia.

Begin Page 44
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
The second stage of our sampling method involved selecting from each
county the specific polling places to be visited. Once the 100 counties were
selected, we contacted county election officials and asked for the most
recent listing of all polling places in each. (Refer to Footnote 5.) From 
each county list, we
randomly selected eight polling places for a total sample of 800 polling
places. These 800 polling places were located in 33 states. Our sampling
method produced a representative sample of polling places in the
contiguous United States. To preserve the integrity of the data collection
effort, the selected polling place locations were not disclosed prior to
Election Day. Sampling errors for the polling place data generally range
between 3 and 10 percentage points. (Refer to Footnote 6.)
Description of Site Visits and the Data Collection Instrument
On Election Day, GAO deployed one- or two-person teams composed of
experienced GAO staff to counties in our sample. Each team was equipped
with a DCI on which to record their observations; a measuring tape; and the
ADA Accessibility Stick II, a tool designed to measure potential
structural impediments in buildings and on walkways. (Refer to Footnote 7.) 
GAO monitored the
activities of the teams throughout Election Day and provided advice by
telephone from our Washington, D.C., and San Francisco offices.
To ensure uniform data collection across the country, all teams received
training in the use of the ADA Accessibility Stick II and the proper way to
fill out each question on the DCI. Teams were instructed on how to
interview the poll worker in charge of each polling place about
accommodations for voters with disabilities and were instructed to review
their responses with them. (Refer to Footnote 8.) Teams also received 
instructions on the
appropriate times for visiting polling places and were instructed not to
Footnote 5: In the states where elections were administered at the township 
level, we contacted all
townships within the selected county and asked for their listings of polling 
places. In some
cases we found polling place lists on county or township Web sites.
Footnote 6: Sampling errors for the county-level data had a wider range 
(generally between 4 and 25
percentage points) than the errors associated with the national polling 
place data because
we used a probability proportional to size sampling method to select the 
counties.
Footnote 7: The ADA Accessibility Stick II is supplied by Access, Inc., 
Lawrence, Kansas.
Footnote 8: In addition, if the teams did not locate an accessible parking 
area, route, entrance, or
pathway, they were instructed to ask the poll worker in charge of the 
polling place whether
one existed and, if so, to show it to them. The teams were instructed to 
then revise the DCI
where appropriate.

Begin Page 45
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
approach voters or interfere with the voting process in any way during their
visits.
Representatives appointed by the county election officials escorted many
of the teams to the polling places. The escorts accompanied the teams to
polling places, and facilitated access into the voting room. To maintain the
integrity of the data collection process, GAO teams were instructed not to
disclose the location of the selected polling places ahead of time. (Refer 
to Footnote 9.)
Due to constraints of time and geography, some teams were not able to
visit all eight polling places in their assigned county. We preserved the
randomness of our sample, however, by having the teams visit the polling
places in the same order in which they were pulled from the sample. That
is, each team was given an ordered list of polling places to visit and was
expected to follow the order number in making their visits. If for some
reason a polling place in a particular county was skipped, all polling 
places
farther down that list were dropped from the sample. Thus, for example,
polling site number five was not included in the final sample unless polling
sites one through four had also been visited.
In addition, some counties did not allow us to visit their polling places on
Election Day itself, but made the sites available to us on an alternative 
date.
Ultimately, all teams visited at least three and as many as eight polling
places. In total, we visited 496 polling places in 85 counties on Election
Day and another 89 polling places in 15 counties either before or after
Election Day. (Refer to Footnote 10.)
Footnote 9: GAO teams disclosed the location of the polling places to the 
escorts on the morning of the
site visits.
Footnote 10: See Appendix III for a list of the counties we visited.

Begin Page 46
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
The DCI we used is reproduced in appendix II. Most of the questions
contained in this instrument incorporate access standards from the 1991
Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and
Facilities, (refer to Footnote 11) the American National Standards 
Institutes (ANSI) Standard
A117.1-1998: Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities, (refer to 
Footnote 12) and the ADA
Guide for Small Towns from the Department of Justice (DOJ). (Refer to 
Footnote 13.) In
addition, some of the questions in our instrument were based upon
questions in an earlier access survey by the Federal Election Commission
(FEC), (refer to Footnote 14) and upon guidelines published by the National 
Task Force on
Accessible Elections. (Refer to Footnote 15.)
All DCI questions were carefully reviewed by GAO methodologists to
ensure the questions would result in the collection of reliable and accurate
data. We then provided copies of a draft version of our DCI to
representatives of the Election Center, the National Organization on
Disability, and the Task Force on Accessible Elections for their review and
comments, but did not receive comments from these organizations. We
also provided the Access Board with a copy of our draft instrument and
they provided comments, which we incorporated as appropriate. Finally,
to ensure that the instrument could be used effectively in the field and
completed in a reasonable amount of time by the teams, we pretested the
DCI twiceduring the June 27, 2000, Special Election and the September
12, 2000, Primary Electionboth in the District of Columbia.
Footnote 11: The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board 
(otherwise known as the
Access Board) is responsible for developing access guidelines for the 
design, construction,
and alteration of buildings and facilities subject to the ADA. Although new 
amendments to
the guidelines were proposed in 1998, they had not been approved and added 
to the
standards enforceable by the Department of Justice by November 7, 2000.
Footnote 12: The ANSIs Standard A117.1-1998 was created to allow a person 
with a physical disability
to independently get to, enter, and use a site, facility, building, or 
element.
Footnote 13: U.S. Department of Justice, ADA Guide for Small Towns, Civil 
Rights Division, Disability
Rights Section (April 2000).
Footnote 14: Federal Election Commission, Polling Place Accessibility Survey 
Form, Polling Place
Accessibility in the 1992 General Election.
Footnote 15: The guidebook, Voting: A Constitutional Right for All Citizens, 
contains guidelines for
making polling places and voting equipment accessible for people with 
disabilities. It was
published in 1999 by the National Task Force on Accessible Elections, 
initiated by the
Election Center. The guidebook was based on a previous document originally 
published in
1986 by the National Organization on Disability and updated in 1987 by the 
National Easter
Seal Society.

Begin Page 47
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
Analysis of Election Day Data
In analyzing the data collected on Election Day, we first grouped the types
of impediments that could be encountered at a polling place into those that
might be encountered at each of four locationsthe parking area, the route
from the parking area to the building, the building entrance, and the route
from the entrance to the voting room. Therefore, the percentage of polling
places cited as having one or more potential impediments was based on
whether or not a polling place was found to have at least one potential
impediment in any of the four locations we examined and does not include
potential impediments associated with the voting booth or equipment,
which we report on separately.
While features of the voting booth or equipment did not enter into our
summary measure of whether a polling place had a potential impediment,
we did look for potential impediments inside the voting room. We took
measurements of the voting booth or table used by people with disabilities
to determine whether equipment was within reach for wheelchair users
and whether wheelchairs could fit inside the booth or under the table. We
checked to see if sample ballots and voting instructions were provided in
18-point type, and if magnifying devices were available. Further, we
checked whether Braille ballots and sleeves, audiotaped ballots, and other
accommodations for blind voters were available. We also briefly
interviewed the poll worker in charge at almost all of the polling places to
find out whether curbside voting was available and how the poll workers
would handle voter requests for assistance from a friend or an election
official. (Refer to Footnote 16.)
Comparison of Non-Election Day Sample With Election Day Sample
In the 15 counties that did not give us access to their polling places on
Election Day, we were able to complete only those portions of our DCI that
referred to the outside of the building. That is, we observed the parking
area and the route from the parking area to the building. However, because
we were not at the polling places on Election Day itself, we could not
observe temporary features that might have been provided to facilitate the
buildings use as a polling place, such as temporary signs or ramps. More
important, we could not determine what accommodations, if any, were
available to voters with disabilities if they were to encounter features 
that
impeded their access to the polling place on Election Day itself. For this
reason, although we visited 89 polling places in these counties either 
before
Footnote 16: We were unable to conduct this interview in 2.5 percent of 
polling places.

Begin Page 48
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
or after Election Day, we excluded the data from these visits from our
analysis. We reweighted our final sample to account for the exclusion of
these polling places so that our findings regarding various polling place
features can still be considered representative of all polling places in the
contiguous United States.
When we compare the limited data from the non-Election Day visits with
those from the Election Day visits, it is clear that the exclusion of the 
non-
Election Day data does not increase the percentage of polling places with a
potential impediment in the parking area or on the route from the parking
area to the building. The percentage of polling places in the non-Election
Day sample with one or more potential impediments in these areas is
higher than the percentage in the Election Day sample. While it is
impossible to compare the entire route from parking to inside the building
across the two sets of data, we found nothing to suggest that the non-
Election Day sites would have had significantly fewer impediments than
those found at the Election Day sites. Table 6 presents the percentage of
polling places visited on Election Day and not on Election Day that had
potential impediments either in the parking area or on the route to the
buildings entrance.

Table 6: Comparison of Election Day and Non-Election Day Data: Percentage of 
Polling Places With Potential
Impediments in Two Areas
Election Day sites: Parking area 33%, Route from parking area to building 
entrance 57%.
Non-Election Day sites: Parking area 38%, Route from parking area to 
building entrance 73%.
Note: Sampling errors for the Election Day sites range from 7 to 8 
percentage points at the 95-percent
confidence level. Sampling errors for the Non-Election Day sites range from 
15 to 20 percentage
points at the 95-percent confidence level.
Source: GAO analysis of polling place data.
Sampling Errors
All sample surveys are subject to sampling error, which is the extent to
which the survey results differ from what would have been obtained if the
whole universe had been observed. Measures of sampling error are defined
by two elementsthe width of the confidence interval around the estimate
(sometimes called precision of the estimate) and the confidence level at
which the interval is computed. The confidence interval refers to the fact
that estimates actually encompass a range of possible values, not just a

Begin Page 49
Appendix I
Scope and Methods
single point. This interval is often expressed as a point estimate, plus or
minus some value (the precision level). For example, a point estimate of 75
percent plus or minus 5 percentage points means that the true population
value is estimated to lie between 70 percent and 80 percent, at some
specified level of confidence.
The confidence level of the estimate is a measure of the certainty that the
true value lies within the range of the confidence interval. We calculated
the sampling error for each statistical estimate in this report at the 95-
percent confidence level and present this information throughout the
report.

Begin Page 50
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
This is a series of 14 scanned form pages representing the data collection 
instrument used to assess polling
place accessibility. The form has a total of 46 questions which assess nine 
issues relating to polling place
accessibility including: background information, parking, route from leaving 
the car to the accessible
entrance of the building, entrances to the building, route to voting room 
from inside the building, voting
room facilities for persons with or without disabilities, aid for visually 
impaired voters, questions for main
precinct official, and additional notes and comments. Page one of the form. 
DCI to Assess Polling Place
Accessibility. Background Information. 1. Date. 2. Time of Visit. 3. Name of 
Observer(s). 4. Name of HQs
Team or Region. 5. Is this location still a polling place? (Check one.) 5.1. 
Not an Election Day visit.
(Continue with DCI.) 5.2. Yes. 5.3. No. (Stop here and go to the next 
polling place.) 6. What is the building
in which the polling place is located normally used as? (Check one.) 6.1. 
House of worship (e.g., church,
parish, synagogue, mosque, temple). 6.2. School. 6.3. Library. 6.4. 
Courthouse. 6.5. Police or fire station.
6.6. Recreational or community center. 6.7. City Hall. 6.8. Private home. 
6.9. Other. (Please specify.)

Begin Page 51
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page two of the form. Parking. 7. Is there temporary or permanent on or off 
street parking associated with
this polling site that is specifically designated for persons with 
disabilities? (Check one.) 7.1. Yes,
designated parking that is permanent only. 7.2. Yes, designated parking that 
is temporary only. 7.3. Yes,
both temporary and permanent designated parking. 7.4. No designated parking 
for persons with
disabilities. (If checked, go to item 10.) 7.5. No parking for any voters. 
(If checked, go to item 10.) 8. Is the
parking specifically designated for persons with disabilities on or off 
street parking, or is there both?
(Check one.) 8.1. On street only. 8.2. Off street only. 8.3. Both on and off 
street parking. 9. If the parking
area specifically designated for persons with disabilities was not easily 
visible from the front of the polling
place, was there a temporary or permanent sign directing voters to that 
parking area? (Check one.) 9.1.
Yes, a temporary sign only. 9.2.Yes, a permanent sign only. 9.3. Yes, both 
temporary and permanent
signs. 9.4. No, there was no sign. 9.5. Not applicable, parking area was 
easily visible.

Begin Page 52
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page three of the form. Route from Leaving the Car to the Accessible 
Entrance of the Building. 10. What
impediments to wheelchair use, if any, are there along the path from the 
point at which persons with
disabilities leave their car to the "accessible" entrance (or main entrance 
if no accessible entrance
designated) of the building? (Check all that apply.) Parking Area or Street 
in Front of Building. 10.1.
Unpaved or poor surface, e.g. abrupt changes over one-quarter inch. 10.2. 
One or more unramped or
uncut curbs. 10.3. One or more ramped or cut curbs that are less than 36 
inches wide. 10.4. Other.
(Please specify). Path from Parking Area or Street in Front of Building to 
the Entrance of the Building.
10.5. Overly narrow (less than 36 inches wide, but can go down to 32 inches 
wide for a distance of two
feet) sidewalk/pathway along the path. 10.6. For at least part of the way 
there is no sidewalk/pathway.
10.7. Sidewalk/pathway has at least one slope that is steeper than a one 
inch rise over twelve inches in
distance. 10.8. Leaves, snow, or litter creating a hazard or impediment. 
10.9. Steps required to reach
building entrance (i.e., no ramps or lifts available). 10.9.a. Steps have 
handrails that extend at least one
foot beyond the landing. 10.9.b. Steps have handrails that extend less than 
one foot beyond the landing.
10.9.c. Steps have no handrails. 10.10. Ramps along main or accessible path 
have a slope steeper than a
one inch rise over twelve inches in distance. 10.11. Ramps that measure more 
than 6 inches from the
ground to their highest point and lack two handrails (i.e. one on each 
side). 10.12. Ramps that are less
than 36 inches wide (can go down to 32 inches wide for a distance of two 
feet). 10.13. Other. (Please
specify). 10.14. No impediments.

Begin Page 53
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page four of the form. 11. If there was a special path for persons with 
disabilities that was different from
the path that non-disabled persons would generally use, was there a 
temporary or permanent sign(s)
clearly indicating that route? (Check one.) 11.1. Yes, a temporary sign 
only. 11.2. Yes, a permanent sign
only. 11.3. Yes, both a temporary and a permanent sign. 11.4. No, there was 
no sign clearly indicating that
route. 11.5. Not applicable, there was no special path. Entrances to the 
Building. 12. What, if any,
impediments to wheelchair use are presented by the entrance(s) to the 
building to which the "accessible"
path (or main path if no "accessible" path designated) from the parking area 
leads? (Check all that apply.)
12.1. Doorway thresholds that exceed one-half inch in height. 11.2. Single 
door openings that are less
than 32 inches wide. 11.3. Double door openings that are less than 32 inches 
wide, including situations in
which one of the doors cannot be opened. 11.4. Closed doors that would be 
difficult for a person in a
wheelchair to open. (Please describe.) 11.5. Other. (Please specify.) 11.6. 
No impediments. 13. Were you
allowed into the polling place? (Check one.) 13.1. Yes. 13.2. No. (Stop here 
and go to the next polling
place.)

Begin Page 54
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page five of the form. Route to Voting Room from Inside the Building. 14. 
Once you have entered the
building, what impediments, if any, are there to wheelchair use along the 
path to the voting room? (Check
all that apply.) Doorways and Entrances that Present Impediments. 14.1. One 
or more doorway thresholds
that exceed one-half inch in height. 14.2. One or more single door openings 
that are less than 32 inches
wide. 14.3. One or more double door openings that are less than 32 inches 
wide, including situations in
which one of the doors cannot be opened. 14.4. One or more closed doors that 
would be difficult for a
person in a wheelchair to open. (Please describe.) 14.5. Other. (Please 
specify.) Steps. 14.6. Steps
required to gain access to the voting room (i.e., no ramp or lift.) 14.6.a. 
Steps have handrails that extend
at least one foot beyond the landing. 14.6.b. Steps have handrails that 
extend less than one foot beyond
the landing. 14.6.c. Steps have no handrails. Ramps that Present 
Impediments. 14.7. One or more ramps
that have a slope steeper than a one inch rise over twelve inches in 
distance. 14.8. One or more ramps
rising more than six inches that lack two handrails (i.e., one on each 
side). 14.9. One or more ramps that
are less than 36 inches wide at any point (but can go down to 32 inches wide 
for a distance of two feet).
14.10. Other. (Please specify.)

Begin Page 55
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page six of the form. Question 14 (continued). Corridors that Present 
Impediments. 14.11. One or more
corridors that do not provide a clearance of at least 36 inches (can go down 
to a clearance of 32 inches for
a distance of two feet). 14.12. Other. 14.13. No impediments. 15. If there 
was a special path to the voting
room for persons with disabilities that was different from the path that 
non-disabled persons would
generally use, was there a temporary or permanent sign(s) clearly indicating 
that route? (Check one.)
15.1. Yes, a temporary sign only. 15.2. Yes, a permanent sign only. 15.3. 
Yes, both a temporary and a
permanent sign. 15.4. No, there was no sign clearly indicating that route. 
15.5. Not applicable, there was
no special path. 16. Is it necessary for a person in a wheelchair or a blind 
person to take an elevator to
gain access to the voting room? (Check one.) 16.1. No. (If no, go to 
question 18.) 16.2. Yes.

Begin Page 56
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page seven of the form. 17. What impediments, if any, does the elevator 
present to blind persons or
persons in a wheelchair? (Check all that apply.) 17.1. The center of the 
outside call button is higher than
48 inches from the ground or floor. 17.2. The elevator opening is less than 
36 inches wide. 17.3. The
center of the top inside floor button(s) is higher than 48 inches from the 
floor of the elevator. 17.4. The
panel surrounding the inside buttons lacked raised lettering or Braille. 
17.5. Outside or inside elevator
buttons require a heat sensor to operate, that is, the elevator buttons 
require human touch to operate.
(Please try to operate by pressing buttons with a pen or similar object.) 
17.6. The inside car is less than 48
inches by 48 inches. 17.7. Other. 17.8. No impediments.

Begin Page 57
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page eight of the form. Voting Room Facilities for Persons with or without 
Disabilities. 18. What kind of
voting method do voters without disabilities use? (Check one.) 18.1. 
Electronic. 18.2. Paper or mark-
sense. 18.3. Votomatic punch card. 18.4. Datavote punch card. 18.5. Machine 
that uses levers to record
vote. 18.6. Choice or combination of two methods (list each). 18.7. Other. 
19. What are the name of the
manufacturer and the model number of the voting machines used by voters 
without disabilities? Record
manufacturer and model number. 20. Are there one or more voting stations 
specifically designated for use
by persons with disabilities? (Check one.) 20.1. Yes. 20.2. No. (If "no," go 
to item 24.) 21. Is a different
type of voting method available to persons with disabilities? (Check one.) 
21.1. Yes. (Describe.) 21.2. No.
22. Are there different kinds of voting machines available to persons with 
disabilities? (Check one.) 22.1.
Yes. (Describe make and model number.) 22.2. No.

Begin Page 58
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page nine of the form. 23. In your opinion, do the voting stations 
specifically designated for persons with
disabilities provide less privacy than, the same privacy as, or more privacy 
than the voting stations
designated for non-disabled voters? (Check one.) 23.1. Less privacy than the 
voting stations for non-
disabled voters. 23.2. The same privacy as the voting stations for 
non-disabled voters. 23.3. More privacy
than the voting stations for non-disabled voters. 24. Is the station at 
which a person with a disability would
vote configured for voters to stand or sit? (Check one.) 24.1. Stand. (If 
"stand," go to item 26.) 24.2. Sit.
25. If the station at which a person with a disability would vote is 
configured for seated voting, is there
clear knee space underneath that is 27 or more inches high, 30 or more 
inches wide and 19 or more
inches deep? Is the equipment necessary for voting located 44 inches or less 
above the floor? (Check yes
or no for each.) 25.1. 27 inches or more high. 25.2. 30 inches or more wide. 
25.3. 19 inches or more deep.
25.4. Voting equipment 44 inches or less above the floor. (Now go to item 
27.)

Begin Page 59
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page ten of the form. 26. If the station at which a person with a disability 
would vote is one in which non-
disabled voters would usually stand, does the station have any of the 
impediments listed below? (Check
yes or no for each.) 26.1. An entryway that is less than 36 inches wide. 
26.2. Thresholds that are more
than one-half inch in the entryway. 26.3. For a voter reaching forward to 
cast a vote, at least some of the
buttons or levers are less than 15 inches above the floor. 26.4. For a voter 
reaching forward to cast a vote,
at least some of the buttons or levers are more than 48 inches above the 
floor. 26.5. For a voter reaching
sideways to cast a vote, at least some of the buttons or levers are less 
than 9 inches above the floor. 26.6.
For a voter reaching sideways to cast a vote, at least some of the buttons 
or levers are more than 54
inches above the floor.

Begin Page 60
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page eleven of the form. Aid for Visually Impaired Voters. 27. Are voting 
instructions posted that use 18
point or larger type? (Check one.) 27.1. Yes, instructions posted with 18 
point type or larger. 27.2. No. (A
note in the margin of this page states:  In the DCI used in the field, the 
bolded "18 point" text in questions
27, 28, 30 and 31 appeared in 18-point font size, in order that GAO staff 
could compare the font size of
this text with that used in actual voting instructions and sample ballots.)  
28. Are sample ballots posted that
use 18 point or larger type? (Check one.) 28.1. Yes. 28.2. No. Questions for 
Main Precinct Official. 29. Are
you able to interview the main precinct official? (Check one.) 29.1. Yes. 
29.2. No. (Stop here and go to the
next polling place.) 30. Do you have voting instructions that use 18 point 
or larger type that are available
for voters to use? (Check one.) 30.1. Yes. (If so, ask to see a set of those 
instructions.) Indicate if
instructions shown. 30.2. No. 31. Do you have sample ballots that use 18 
point or larger type that are
available for voters to use? (Check one.) 31.1. Yes. (If so, ask to see one 
of those ballots. Indicate if ballot
shown. 31.2. No. 32. Does the polling place have magnifying devices 
available that visually impaired
voters can use? (Check one.) 32.1. Yes. (If so, ask to see the device 
(glasses).) Indicate if device shown.
32.2. No.

Begin Page 61
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page twelve of the form. 33. Does the polling place have any special 
equipment available to enable a blind
person to vote? (Check one.) 33.1. Yes. 33.2. No. (If "no," go to item 35.) 
34. May I see the equipment that
is available? (Check each shown.) 34.1. Braille sleeve. 34.2. Braille paper 
ballot. 34.3. Braille ballot as part
of the voting device. 34.4. Audio-taped ballot. 34.5. Other. (Specify.) 35. 
If a blind person wishes to vote,
may that person have a friend assist him or her with voting? (Check one.) 
35.1. Yes. 35.2. No. 36. If a
person with a disability other than blindness, wishes to vote may that 
person have a friend assist him or
her with voting? (Check one.) 36.1. Yes. 36.2. No. 37. If a blind person 
asks for help with voting, will an
election official assist him or her? (Check one.) 37.1. Yes. 37.2. No.

Begin Page 62
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page thirteen of the form. 38. If a person with a disability, other than 
blindness, asks for help with voting,
will an election official assist him or her? (Check one.) 38.1. Yes. 38.2. 
No. 39. If a person with a disability
arrives at the polling place in a car and believes that he or she would have 
difficulty entering or voting at
the polling place, what would you do to enable the person to vote? (Check 
all that are indicated.) 39.1.
Provide assistance so that the person with a disability could vote in the 
polling place. (Ask what kind of
assistance would be provided and record the answer received.) 39.2. Enable 
the person to vote in his or
her automobile by using the same kind of voting device as is used in the 
polling place. 39.3. Enable the
person to vote in his or her automobile by using a paper ballot. 39.4. 
Other. 40. (If you cannot locate on or
off street parking designated for persons with disabilities that is 
associated with this polling place ask) Is
there on or off street parking associated with this polling site that is 
specifically designated for persons
with disabilities that is either temporary or permanent? Would you show it 
to me? (Check one.) 40.1. Yes.
Indicate if shown. (If necessary, revise answers to items 7 through 9.) 
40.2. No. 41. (If you cannot locate
an accessible route from leaving the car to the entrance of the voting room 
ask) Is there an accessible
path from the point at which blind persons or persons with disabilities 
leave their car to the entrance of the
building? Would you show it to me? (Check one.) 41.1. Yes. Indicate if 
shown. (If necessary, revise
answers to items 10 and 11.) 41.2. No.

Begin Page 63
Appendix II
Polling Place Accessibility Data Collection Instrument
Page fourteen of the form. 42. (If you cannot locate an entrance that is 
wheelchair accessible ask) Is
there an entrance to this building that is wheelchair accessible? Would you 
show it to me? (Check one.)
42.1. Yes. Indicate if shown. (If necessary, revise answers to item 12.) 
42.2. No. 43. (If you cannot locate
an accessible path from the entrance to the voting room ask) Is there a 
path from the entrance of the
building to the voting room that is accessible to blind persons and persons 
with disabilities? Would you
show it to me? (Check one.) 43.1. Yes. Indicate if shown. (If necessary, 
revise answers to items 14 and
15.) 43.2. No. 44. Can the voting equipment in the voting stations be 
lowered? Would you show me how
this is done? (Check one.) 44.1. Yes. Indicate if shown. (If necessary, 
revise answers to items 25 or 26.)
44.2. No. 45. I would like to just take a few minutes to review the answers 
given to the interview questions.
(Quickly read back the questions and answers to the interview questions to 
check for correctness and
revise accordingly.) 45.1. Indicate if answers to interview questions 
reviewed and revised, if necessary.
46. Enter additional notes and comments.

Begin Page 64
Appendix III
People and Counties Contacted During Our Review
Table 7: Representatives of Election Offices in 50 States and the District 
of Columbia
State: Office: Name and title.
Alabama: Office of Secretary of State: Vicki Balogh, Director of Elections.
Arizona: Office of Secretary of State: Jessica Funkhouser, Election 
Director.
Alaska: Division of Elections: Janet Kowalski, Director.
Arkansas: State Board of Election Commissioners: Suzy Stormes, Director.
California: Office of Secretary of State: John Mott-Smith, Chief of 
Elections Division.
Colorado: Office of Secretary of State: Bill Compton, Director of Elections.
Connecticut: Office of Secretary of State: Thomas Ferguson, Director of 
Elections.
Delaware: Department of Elections: Tom Cook, Commissioner of Elections.
District of Columbia: Board of Elections and Ethics: Alice P. Miller, 
Executive Director
Marvin A. Ford, Chief of Staff and Tony Bass, Election Operations Manager.
Florida: Division of Elections: L. Clayton Roberts, Director.
Georgia: Elections Division: Linda Beazley, Director.
Hawaii: Office of Elections: Dwayne Yoshina, Chief Elections Officer.
Idaho: Elections Division: Ben Ysursa, Chief Deputy Secretary of State.
Illinois: State Board of Elections: Ron Michaelson, Executive Director.
Indiana: Election Commission: Spencer Valentine, Co-Director.
Iowa: Office of the Secretary of State: Bob Galbraith, Deputy Secretary of 
State for Elections and Sandy Steinbach, Director of Elections.
Kansas: Office of the Secretary of State: Brad Bryant, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of State for Elections.

Begin Page 65
Appendix III
People and Counties Contacted During Our Review
(Continued From Previous Page)
State: Office: Name and title.
Kentucky: State Board of Elections: Mary Sue Helm, Executive Director.
Louisiana: Office of the Secretary of State: Frances Hurst, 
Elections/Commissions/Publications Administrator, Warren Ponder, Executive 
Counsel and Pat Stewart, Assistant Administrator.
Maine: Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions: Julie Flynn, 
Director and Melissa Packard, Elections Assistant.
Maryland: State Administrative Board of Election Laws: Linda Lamone, 
Administrator.
Massachusetts: Election Division: Michelle Tassinari, Director of Elections.
Michigan: Bureau of Elections: Bradley S. Wittman, Director of Information 
and Voter Registration.
Minnesota: Election Division: J. Bradley King, Director.
Mississippi: Secretary of State for Elections: Leslie Scott, Assistant.
Missouri: Election Division: Daniel Hayes, Senior Election Specialist.
Montana: Office of Secretary of State: Joe Kerwin, Deputy for Elections.
Nebraska: Office of Secretary of State: Neal Erickson, Assistant Secretary 
of State.
Nevada: Office of Secretary of State: Susan Morandi, Deputy Secretary of 
State for Elections.
New Hampshire: State Election Office: Ellen Dube, Elections Assistant.
New Jersey: State Election Office: Sharon Young, Director of Elections 
Division.
New Mexico: State Bureau of Elections: Denise Lamb, Director of Elections.
New York: State Board of Elections: Thomas R. Wilkey, Executive Director.
North Carolina: State Board of Elections: Gary Bartlett, Executive Director.
North Dakota: Office of Secretary of State: Lee Ann Oliver, Elections 
Specialist.

Begin Page 66
Appendix III
People and Counties Contacted During Our Review
(Continued From Previous Page)
State: Office: Name and title.
Ohio: Office of Secretary of State: Dana Walch, Director of Elections.
Oklahoma: State Elections Board: Lance Ward, Secretary.
Oregon: Office of the Secretary of State: Scott Tighe, Operations Manager.
Pennsylvania: Bureau of Commissions, Elections, and Legislation: Dick 
Filling, Commissioner of Elections.
Rhode Island: State Board of Elections: Robert Fontaine, Executive Director.
South Carolina: State Elections Commission: Jim F. Hendrix, Executive 
Director.
South Dakota: State Election Office: Chris Nelson, Election Supervisor.
Tennessee: Office of Secretary of State: Brook Thompson, State Coordinator 
of Elections.
Texas: Office of Secretary of State: Ann McGeehan, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of State for Elections.
Utah: Office of the Lieutenant Governor: Amy Naccarato, Director of 
Elections.
Vermont: Office of Secretary of State: Kathy DeWolfe, Director of Elections 
and Campaign Finance.
Virginia: State Board of Elections: Cameron Quinn, Secretary.
Washington: Office of Secretary of State: Charlotte Ottavelli, Elections 
Assistant.
West Virginia: Office of Secretary of State: Jan Casto, Deputy Secretary of 
State and Director of Elections.
Wisconsin: State Elections Board: Kevin Kennedy, Executive Director.
Wyoming: Office of Secretary of State: Peggy Nighswonger, Elections Officer.

Begin Page 67
Table 8: Alphabetical Listing of 100 Randomly Selected Counties
Number: County: State.
1: Coffee: Alabama.
2: Mobile (refer to Footnote A): Alabama.
3: Alameda: California.
4: Imperial: California.
5: Los Angeles: California.
6: Monterey: California.
7: Placer: California.
8: San Bernardino: California.
9: San Diego: California.
10: San Mateo: California.
11: Santa Clara: California.
12: Tulare: California.
13: Fairfield (refer to Footnote B): Connecticut.
14: Brevard: Florida.
15: Dade: Florida.
16: Duval: Florida.
17: Lee: Florida.
18: Manatee: Florida.
19: Monroe: Florida.
20: Pasco: Florida.
21: Pinellas: Florida.
22: De Kalb: Georgia.
23: Forsyth: Georgia.
24: Gwinnett: Georgia.
25: Richmond: Georgia.
26: Cook: Illinois.
27: Stephenson: Illinois.
28: Marion: Indiana.
29: Plymouth: Iowa.
30: Worth: Iowa.
31: Johnson: Kansas.
32: Sedgwick: Kansas.
33: Wilson: Kansas.
34: Bracken: Kentucky.
35: Jefferson: Kentucky.

Begin Page 68
Appendix III
People and Counties Contacted During Our Review
(Continued From Previous Page)
Number: County: State.
36: Kenton: Kentucky.
37: Hampshire (refer to Footnote B): Massachusetts.
38: Norfolk (refer to Footnote B): Massachusetts.
39: Suffolk: Massachusetts.
40: Berrien: Michigan.
41: Carlton: Minnesota.
42: Morrison: Minnesota.
43: Ramsey: Minnesota.
44: Jackson: Mississippi.
45: New Madrid (refer to Footnote A): Missouri.
46: St. Louis City: Missouri.
47: St. Louis (refer to Footnote A): Missouri.
48: Clay: Nebraska.
49: Washoe: Nevada.
50: Bergen: New Jersey.
51: Essex: New Jersey.
52: Morris: New Jersey.
53: Union: New Jersey.
54: Mora (refer to Footnote A): New Mexico.
55: San Juan (refer to Footnote A): New Mexico.
56: Kings: New York.
57: Monroe: New York.
58: New York: New York.
59: Niagara: New York.
60: Rockland: New York.
61: Saratoga: New York.
62: Schenectady: New York.
63: Suffolk: New York.
64: Guilford: North Carolina.
65: Henderson: North Carolina.
66: Mecklenburg: North Carolina.
67: Auglaize (refer to Footnote A): Ohio.
68: Franklin (refer to Footnote A): Ohio.
69: Stark (refer to Footnote A): Ohio.
70: Trumbull (refer to Footnote A): Ohio.
71: Oklahoma: Oklahoma.
72: Pontotoc: Oklahoma.

Begin Page 69
Appendix III
People and Counties Contacted During Our Review
(Continued From Previous Page)
Number: County: State.
73: Allegheny: Pennsylvania.
74: Bradford: Pennsylvania.
75: Bucks: Pennsylvania.
76: Dauphin: Pennsylvania.
77: Mercer: Pennsylvania.
78: Monroe (refer to Footnote A): Pennsylvania.
79: Philadelphia: Pennsylvania.
80: Union: Pennsylvania.
81: Orangeburg: South Carolina.
82: Putnam: Tennessee.
83: Shelby: Tennessee.
84: Bexar (refer to Footnote A): Texas.
85: Brazoria (refer to Footnote A): Texas.
86: Dallas (refer to Footnote A): Texas.
87: Tarrant (refer to Footnote A): Texas.
88: Williamson (refer to Footnote A): Texas.
89: Davis: Utah.
90: Chittenden (refer to Footnote B): Vermont.
91: Arlington: Virginia.
92: Wythe: Virginia.
93: Benton: Washington.
94: Grant: Washington.
95: King: Washington.
96: Snohomish: Washington.
97: Boone West: Virginia.
98: Marathon: Wisconsin.
99: Oconto: Wisconsin.
100: Trempealeau: Wisconsin.
Footnote A: For these 15 counties, we visited polling places either before 
or after Election Day.
Footnote B: For these four counties, we spoke with election officials at the 
subcounty level (such as towns and
cities) where responsibility for elections lies.
Election and Other Officials and Representatives of Disability Organizations 
Whom We Contacted
Gary Bartlett: Executive Secretary-Director, State Board of Elections, North 
Carolina;
Cochair, Election Centers National Task Force on Voting Accessibility; and
member of National Association of State Election Directors (NASED).

Begin Page 70
Appendix III
People and Counties Contacted During Our Review
David Baquis: Accessibility Specialist, Office of Technical & Information 
Services, U.S. Access Board.
Penelope Bonsall: Director, Office of Election Administration, FEC.
John Y. Brown, III: Secretary of State, Kentucky; and Southern Regional Vice 
President of the
National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS).
Pauline Brunelli: Director, Federal Voting Assistance Program, U.S. 
Department of Defense (DOD).
Brad Bryant: Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Elections/Legislative 
matters,
Kansas; and Midwest Regional representative, NASED.
Bryan Casky: Assistant State Election Director, Kansas.
David Capozzi: Director, Office of Technical & Information Services, U.S. 
Access Board;
and member of the Election Centers National Task Force on Voting 
Accessibility.
Alfie Charles: Chair, California Internet Task Force.
Kristen Cox: Assistant Director, Government Affairs, National Federation of 
the Blind.
Jim Dickson: Vice President, American Association of People with 
Disabilities and
Consultant for the National Organization on Disability.
Jessica Funkhouser: Election Director, Arizona Secretary of States office; 
and member of
NASED.

Begin Page 71
Appendix III
People and Counties Contacted During Our Review
James Gashel: Director of Government Affairs, National Federation of the 
Blind.
Tom Goodman: Director of Public Affairs, National Association of Counties 
(NACO).
Brian Hancock: Election Research Specialist, Office of Election 
Administration, FEC.
Ernest Hawkins: Registrar of Voters, Sacramento County; former President, 
National
Association of County Recorders and Clerks (NACRC); Cochair of NACO
National Commission on Election Standards and Reform; and member of
the FEC Election Administration Advisory Panel2001.
J. Patrick Kelly: County Clerk and Recorder, El Paso County; Cochair of 
NACRC Election
Interest Group; and member, NACO National Commission on Election Standards 
and Reform.
Robert Kengle: Deputy Chief, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, DOJ.
William C. Kimberling: Deputy Director, Office of Election Administration, 
FEC.
Andrew Lelling: Counsel to Assistant Attorney General, Senior Counsel Voting 
Reform, DOJ.
R. Doug Lewis: Executive Director, Election Center; and member of the 
Election Centers
National Task Force on Voting Accessibility and NACO National
Commission on Election Standards and Reform.
Marsha Mazz: Technical Assistance Coordinator and Accessibility Specialist, 
Office of
Technical and Information Services, U.S. Access Board.
Ann McGeehan: Texas State Elections Director; NASED President; and member of 
the
Election Centers National Task Force on Voting Accessibility.

Begin Page 72
Appendix III
People and Counties Contacted During Our Review
Gary McIntosh: Former Director of Elections, Washington and former NASED 
President.
Michelle Mrozkowski: Director, Information and Education, North Carolina 
State Board of
Elections.
Amy Naccarato: Director of Elections, Utah; and NASED West Regional 
Representative.
Lee Page: Associate Advocacy Director, Paralyzed Veterans of America; and 
Cochair,
Election Centers National Task Force on Voting Accessibility.
Carol Paquette: Program Analyst, Federal Voting Assistance Program, DOD.
Cathy Pearsall-Stipek: Certified Public Official-Auditor, Pierce County, 
Washington; President,
NACRC; member of NACO National Commission on Election Standards and Reform.
Jim Pecht: Accessibility Specialist, Office of Technical and Information 
Services, U.S.
Access Board.
Sharon Priest: Secretary of State, Arkansas; and President, NASS.
Leslie Reynolds: Executive Director, NASS.
Joseph D. Rich: Acting Chief, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, DOJ.
Mark Richert: Government Relations Representative, American Foundation for 
the Blind;
and member of the Election Centers National Task Force on Voting 
Accessibility.
David Scott: Policy Analyst, The Council of State Governments; and NASED 
member.

Begin Page 73
Appendix III
People and Counties Contacted During Our Review
Susie Stormes: Director, Arkansas State Board of Election Commissioners; and 
NASED
member.
Christopher M. Thomas: Director, Bureau of Elections, Michigan; and NASED 
member.
Brook Thompson: Coordinator of Elections, Tennessee; and NASED 
President-Elect.
Scott Tighe: Operations Manager, Secretary of State, Oregon; and member of 
the
Election Centers National Task Force on Voting Accessibility.
Rebecca Wertz: Deputy Chief, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, DOJ.
Terrence Williams: Information Systems and Services, Federal Voting 
Assistance Program, DOD.
John L. Wodatch: Chief, Disability Rights Section, Civil Rights Division, 
DOJ.

Begin Pages 74 and 75 (combined)
Appendix IV
State Provisions Concerning Voting Accessibility
Table 9: State Provisions Concerning Polling Place Accessibility, 
Accommodation of
Voting Booth Areas and Equipment, and Aids for Visually Impaired Voters 
(listed by State).

Table Legend
Law = required by law.
Policy = required or recommended in written state policy or other 
guidelines. No provision = no provision in law or policy.
(S) = suggested, recommended, or otherwise allowed by law, but not required. 
(N) = no exceptions.

Alabama
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Policy,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Alaska
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Policy,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Arizona
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Policy 
(N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Arkansas
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: Policy,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

California
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Colorado
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): No 
provision (refer to Footnote B),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Connecticut
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Delaware
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: No provision, Inspections 
of polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

District of Columbia
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Policy,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Florida
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Georgia
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law (S),
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Hawaii
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): No 
provision,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Idaho
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Illinois
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Law (S).

Indiana
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Iowa
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Policy,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Kansas
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Kentucky
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: Policy, Ballots 
with larger type must/may be provided: Policy,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Louisiana
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Maine
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Law.

Maryland
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Massachusetts
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law 
(refer to Footnote C),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Michigan
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Minnesota
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision (refer to Footnote D).
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Mississippi
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): No 
provision,
State has polling place accessibility standards: No provision, Inspections 
of polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Missouri
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): No 
provision (refer to Footnote E),
State has polling place accessibility standards: No provision, Inspections 
of polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Montana
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Nebraska
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Nevada
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: No provision, Inspections 
of polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: Law (S),
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

New Hampshire
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

New Jersey
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Begin Pages 76 and 77 (combined)
Appendix IV
State Provisions Concerning Voting Accessibility
(Continued from Previous two Pages)

New Mexico
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law 
(refer to Footnote F) (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Law (S).

New York
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

North Carolina
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Policy,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: Policy, Ballots 
with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

North Dakota
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Ohio
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Policy.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law 
(S).
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Oklahoma
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Law.

Oregon (refer to Footnote G)
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (S),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision 
(refer to Footnote H), Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No 
provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Law (S).

Pennsylvania
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): No 
provision,
State has polling place accessibility standards: No provision, Inspections 
of polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Rhode Island
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: Law, Ballots with 
larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

South Carolina
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law 
(refer to Footnote I) (S),
State has polling place accessibility standards: No provision, Inspections 
of polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

South Dakota
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): No 
provision,
State has polling place accessibility standards: No provision, Inspections 
of polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Tennessee
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Texas
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (N),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: Law (S), Ballots 
with larger type must/may be provided: Law (S),
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Utah
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): No 
provision,
State has polling place accessibility standards: No provision, Inspections 
of polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Vermont
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law (S),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law (S),
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: Law.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: Law (S), Ballots 
with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Law (S).

Virginia
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: 
Policy.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: Policy, Ballots 
with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Washington
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Law, Inspections of polling 
place accessibility required: Law,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: Law.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Law,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Law (S).

West Virginia
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Policy,
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Wisconsin
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): Law 
(refer to Footnote J),
State has polling place accessibility standards: Policy, Inspections of 
polling place accessibility required: Policy,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: Policy,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: Policy.

Wyoming
Polling place accessibility:
All polling places must/should be accessible (refer to Footnote A): No 
provision,
State has polling place accessibility standards: No provision, Inspections 
of polling place accessibility required: No provision,
Reporting on polling place accessibility required: No provision.
Voting booth areas and equipment: Voting areas must/should accommodate 
wheelchairs: No provision,
Voting systems must/should accommodate individuals with disabilities: No 
provision.
Aids for visually impaired voters:
Braille ballot or methods of voting must/may be provided: No provision, 
Ballots with larger type must/may be provided: No provision,
Magnifying instruments must/may be provided: No provision.

Notes: This analysis does not include provisions related to emergencies. Law 
= required by law.
Policy = required or recommended in written state policy or other 
guidelines. No provision = no provision in law or
policy. (S) = suggested, recommended, or otherwise allowed by law, but not 
required. (N) = no
exceptions.
Footnote A: All polling places must/should be accessible: State provisions 
may allow exceptions if no accessible
polling places are available.
Footnote B: Colorado: At least one polling place within each political 
subdivision must be accessible.
Footnote C: Massachusetts: A state election official indicated that it is 
the policy of the Secretary of State not to
grant exceptions to accessibility requirements and, to date, no exemptions 
have been granted.
Footnote D: Minnesota: Recent legislation authorizes the licensing of 
touch-sensitive electronic voting systems for
experimental use at an election before approval for general use, including 
at least one voting system
permitting blind or visually impaired individuals to vote independently and 
privately. The extent of
experimental use will be determined by the Secretary of State.
Footnote E: Missouri: Each local election authority may designate one common 
site as an Election Day polling
place for accessibility to the handicapped and elderly.
Footnote F: New Mexico: One polling place in each precinct must be 
accessible.

Begin Page 78
Appendix IV
State Provisions Concerning Voting Accessibility
(Continued from Previous Page)

Footnote G: Oregon: This is a unique state in that all elections held on the 
date of the biennial primaries and
general elections are generally conducted by mail balloting. While 
vote-by-mail is the normal practice
for federal elections, some polling booths are required and the responses 
shown for Oregon generally
reflect traditional voting at a polling place.
Footnote H: Oregon: Public notice must be made of voting aids available.
Footnote I: South Carolina: Each county election commission (1) is 
encouraged to make every polling place
barrier free and (2) shall provide at least one polling place in the county 
free of architectural barriers for
voters with disabilities.
Footnote J: Wisconsin: A state election official informed us that they have 
never implemented the statutory
authority to exempt polling places from accessibility requirements.
Source: GAO analysis of state statutes, regulations, and other written 
provisions that were identified
and obtained by GAO, or were provided by state election officials as of July 
2001. State policies or
practices that are unwritten, or for which supporting documentation was not 
provided as of July 2001,
were not included in this analysis. Election officials in each state 
reviewed our analysis and provided
comments and corrections, which we incorporated where appropriate.

Begin Page 79
Appendix IV
State Provisions Concerning Voting Accessibility
(blank page)

Begin Pages 80 and 81 (combined)
Appendix IV
State Provisions Concerning Voting Accessibility
Table 10: State Provisions Concerning Alternative Voting Methods or 
Accommodations On or Before Election Day (listed by State).

Table Legend
Law = provided by law. Policy = provided by policy documents. No provision = 
no provision.
(P) = prohibited by law. (R) = law includes restrictions. (Q) = law or 
policy requires accessibility. (D) = law also permits ballot to be delivered 
by a personal representative.

Alabama
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (refer to 
Footnote D). Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to 
Footnote C) No provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with 
disabilities No provision, Other early voting provisions No provision (refer 
to Footnote E).

Alaska
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day Law, Before Election Day Law.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision 
(D). Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) 
Law, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities Law, 
Other early voting provisions Law.

Arizona
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Policy, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Policy, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Policy, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day Law, Before Election Day Law.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Arkansas
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law (P), Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day Law (P), Before Election Day Law (P).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

California
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places available on 
Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On Election Day No 
provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law (R), Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Colorado
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places available on 
Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On Election Day No 
provision, Before Election Day Law (refer to Footnote F).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Connecticut
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Policy, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day Policy, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day Law (P), Before Election Day Law (refer to Footnote G) (P).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions No provision.

Delaware
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Ballot due on Election Day: 
In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions No provision.

District of Columbia
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Policy, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) Law, 
Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities No 
provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Florida
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law (refer to 
Footnote H).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (refer to Footnote I).

Georgia
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Hawaii
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Idaho
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Policy, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Illinois
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places available on 
Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On Election Day No 
provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Indiana
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Iowa
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Policy, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day Law (refer to Footnote J), Before Election Day Law (refer to 
Footnote J).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) Law, 
Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities No 
provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Kansas
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law (R), Other early voting provisions Law.

Kentucky
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law (P), Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day Law (P), Before Election Day Law (P).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions No provision.

Louisiana
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law (refer to Footnote K), 
Curbside voting available on Election Day Policy (P), Alternative and 
accessible polling places available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to 
voters residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law 
(refer to Footnote L).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Ballot due on Election Day: 
In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law (R), Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Maine
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law (refer to Footnote M).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Maryland
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Policy, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) Law, 
Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities No 
provision, Other early voting provisions No provision.

Massachusetts
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law (P), Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law (refer to Footnote N).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law (R), Other early voting provisions Law.

Michigan
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Policy, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day Policy, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day Law, Before Election Day Law.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Minnesota
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law (refer to Footnote O).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Mississippi
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Policy, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day Law (P), Before Election Day Law (P).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Ballot due on Election Day: 
In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law (R), Other early voting provisions Law.

Missouri
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law (R), Other early voting provisions Law.

Montana
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places available on 
Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On Election Day No 
provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Policy, By mail Policy. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Nebraska
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision 
(D). Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) 
Law, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities No 
provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Nevada
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day Law (refer to Footnote P), Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities No 
provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Begin Pages 82 and 83 (combined)
Appendix IV
State Provisions Concerning Voting Accessibility

New Hampshire
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Policy, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions No provision.

New Jersey
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law, Other early voting provisions No provision.

New Mexico
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

New York
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law (refer to Footnote Q).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) Law, 
Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities Law (R), 
Other early voting provisions No provision.

North Carolina
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). Ballot due on Election 
Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

North Dakota
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No 
provision. Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to 
Footnote C) Law, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with 
disabilities No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Ohio
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day Law, Before Election Day Law.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Oklahoma
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law (refer to Footnote R), Alternative and 
accessible polling places available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to 
voters residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law 
(refer to Footnote S).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Oregon (refer to Footnote T)
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places available on 
Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On Election Day Law 
(refer to Footnote U), Before Election Day Law (refer to Footnote U).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law, Other early voting provisions Law.

Pennsylvania
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law (refer to Footnote V), By mail Law (refer 
to Footnote V). Ballot due on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) 
No provision, By mail No provision. Mailed ballot may be received after 
Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No provision, Permanent absentee ballot 
available to voters with disabilities No provision, Other early voting 
provisions No provision.

Rhode Island
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day Law (refer to Footnote W), Alternative and accessible 
polling places available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law (refer to 
Footnote X).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law (refer to Footnote Y) (R), Other early voting provisions No provision.

South Carolina
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Policy, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Policy.

South Dakota
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law (D). 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Tennessee
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Texas
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision (refer to Footnote Z), Ballot taken 
to voters residences: On Election Day Law (P), Before Election Day Law (P).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail Law. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Utah
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) Law, 
Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities Law, Other 
early voting provisions Law.

Vermont
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day Law, Before Election Day Law.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Virginia
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters residences: 
On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Policy, By mail Policy. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions Law.

Washington
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Law, Curbside voting available 
on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. 
Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) Law, 
Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities Law, Other 
early voting provisions No provision.

West Virginia
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law (refer to Footnote AA), Alternative and 
accessible polling places available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to 
voters residences: On Election Day Law (refer to Footnote BB), Before 
Election Day Law (refer to Footnote BB).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail No provision. Ballot due on 
Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No 
provision. Mailed ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to 
Footnote C) Law, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with 
disabilities Law (R), Other early voting provisions Law (Q).

Wisconsin
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places Policy, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day Law, Alternative and accessible polling places 
available on Election Day Law, Ballot taken to voters residences: On 
Election Day No provision, Before Election Day Law (refer to Footnote CC).
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
Law (R), Other early voting provisions Law.

Wyoming
Notify voters of inaccessible polling places No provision, Curbside voting 
available on Election Day No provision, Alternative and accessible polling 
places available on Election Day No provision, Ballot taken to voters 
residences: On Election Day No provision, Before Election Day No provision.
Absentee voting (refer to Footnote A): Ballot due before Election Day: In 
person (refer to Footnote B) No provision, By mail No provision. Ballot due 
on Election Day: In person (refer to Footnote B) Law, By mail Law. Mailed 
ballot may be received after Election Day (refer to Footnote C) No 
provision, Permanent absentee ballot available to voters with disabilities 
No provision, Other early voting provisions No provision.

Notes: This analysis does not include provisions relating to emergencies. 
Law = provided by law.
Policy = provided by policy documents. No provision = no provision. (P) = 
prohibited by law. (R) = law includes restrictions. (Q) = law or policy 
requires accessibility. (D) = law also permits ballot to be delivered by a 
personal representative. Thirteen states: Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, 
Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, 
North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas require all polling places to be 
accessible.
Footnote A: Absentee voting: Provisions for overseas or military voters are 
not included in this analysis.
Footnote B: In-person absentee voting: May include provisions for either 
voting in person or personal delivery of ballot or both; we use the latest 
date if they are different.
Footnote C: Mailed ballots may be received after Election Day: Most of these 
states require ballots to be postmarked on or before Election Day.
Footnote D: Alabama: Must be postmarked by the day prior to Election Day and 
received by Election Day.

Begin Page 84
Appendix IV
State Provisions Concerning Voting Accessibility
Footnote E: Alabama: State statute permits early voting on Saturday 10 days 
prior to Election Day only for voters who will be absent on Election Day, 
and does not address early voting by voters with disabilities who will be 
present in the county on Election Day.
Footnote F: Colorado: When more than five absentee ballots are to be sent to 
the same group residential facility (nursing home, senior citizen housing 
facility, etc.) the statute authorizes county clerk employees to deliver and 
return the absentee ballots. However, the statute is silent as to when the 
visits to the nursing homes can occur.
Footnote G: Connecticut: Ballots cannot be hand-delivered to the voters 
home. However, if 20 or more patients in a nursing home, residential care 
home, or VA health-care facility wish to vote, registrars of voters may 
supervise absentee voting and early voting at the homes. Absentee balloting 
at the homes must be no later than the last business day before the 
election.
Footnote H: Florida: The statute permits "supervised" voting at a certain 
time and date in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. The statute 
is silent as to when the voting must occur.
Footnote I: Florida: Effective January 1, 2002, any qualified and registered 
voter may pick up and vote an absentee ballot in person before Election Day 
at the supervisor of elections office.
Footnote J: Iowa: The county auditor must send a bipartisan team to deliver 
an absentee ballot to any resident or patient of a hospital or nursing home 
who requests a ballot.
Footnote K: Louisiana: Notification requirement applies only to absentee 
voting in person at registrars office.
Footnote L: Louisiana: On a fixed day, election officials will go to nursing 
homes so voters can cast their votes.
Footnote M: Maine: A state election official interprets the statute, 
permitting absentee voting in the presence of the clerk, to permit the clerk 
to take the absentee ballot to a voters home. Another statute establishes 
early voting at nursing homes.
Footnote N: Massachusetts: Local election officials may conduct supervised 
absentee voting at a designated health care facility before Election Day.
Footnote O: Minnesota: Permits voting by people with disabilities at nursing 
homes or health-care residences (early absentee voting in front of two 
election judges who come to the facility).
Footnote P: Nevada: County clerk shall establish at least one polling place 
for a precinct in any residential development exclusively for elderly 
persons if more than 100 of the residents of the development are registered 
to vote, and adequate area is available and the development owner consents 
to the establishment of the polling place.
Footnote Q: New York: Permits people with disabilities to vote in their 
nursing home if there are at least five residents with disabilities on site.
Footnote R: Oklahoma: Curbside voting is not available to voters whose sole 
impairment is blindness or other type of visual impairment.
Footnote S: Oklahoma: Voters confined to nursing homes can vote there by 
written ballot, which is delivered and collected by the state.
Footnote T: Oregon: This is a unique state in that all elections held on the 
date of the biennial primaries and general elections are generally conducted 
by mail balloting. While vote-by-mail is the normal practice for federal 
elections, some polling booths are required and the responses shown for 
Oregon generally reflect traditional voting at a polling place.
Footnote U: Oregon: Any voter with disabilities, upon request, shall receive 
assistance of two persons of different parties provided by the clerk. Also, 
a voter with a physical disability may request assistance; the location is 
negotiable, including home, the elections office, drop site locations, or 
community service center, depending on the voters need.
Footnote V: Pennsylvania: A ballot received after 5 p.m. on the Friday 
before the election but before the closing of the polls on Election Day is 
valid only for presidential and vice-presidential votes.
Footnote W: Rhode Island: Curbside voting is permitted if there is no 
alternative accessible location within the city or town.
Footnote X: Rhode Island: The statute permits election officials to come to 
a nursing home or hospital to deliver ballots and supervise the casting of 
votes and assist where necessary. Ballots are then mailed.

Begin Page 85
Appendix IV
State Provisions Concerning Voting Accessibility
Footnote Y: Rhode Island: Individuals permanently incapacitated may be put 
on a list to automatically receive absentee ballot applications for 5 years.
Footnote Z: Texas: State law requires that all polling places be accessible 
without exception.
Footnote AA: West Virginia: A state official informed us that curbside 
voting is available only if a polling place is not accessible.
Footnote BB: West Virginia: Nursing home residents may qualify for emergency 
absentee voting. Election officials may deliver an application and ballot to 
nursing home resident voters no earlier than the seventh day preceding the 
election and no later than noon on Election Day, await their completion, and 
return the completed application and ballot to the circuit clerk prior to 
the close of polls on Election Day.
Footnote CC: Wisconsin: Residents of nursing homes, retirement homes, and 
certain community-based facilities may vote absentee. Two special voting 
deputies will visit the home or qualified community-based residential 
facility at a prearranged day and time (but no later than 5 p.m. on the 
Monday preceding the election) for the purpose of supervising absentee 
voting.
Source: GAO analysis of state statutes, regulations, and other written 
provisions that were identified and obtained by GAO or were provided by 
state election officials as of July 2001. State policies or practices that 
are unwritten, or for which supporting documentation was not provided as of 
July 2001, were not included in this analysis. Election officials in each 
state reviewed our analysis and provided comments and corrections, which we 
incorporated where appropriate.

Begin Page 86
Appendix V
Selected Potential Impediments by Location Area
Location area and potential impediment:
Parking area: Percentage of all polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 33%.
No parking designated for people with disabilities: Percentage of all 
polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 32%.
No parking for any voters: Percentage of all polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 1%.
Route from parking area to building entrance: Percentage of all polling 
places with
impediments in the specified location area 57%.
Unpaved or poor surface: Percentage of all polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 23%.
Ramps with slopes greater than a one inch rise over twelve inches in 
distance: Percentage of all polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 21%.
Sidewalk slope steeper than a one inch rise over twelve inches in distance: 
Percentage of all polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 20%.
Unramped or uncut curb(s): Percentage of all polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 8%.
No sidewalk or pathway for part of the way: Percentage of all polling places 
with
impediments in the specified location area 8%.
Ramps that measure more than 6 inches from the ground to their highest point 
and lack two
handrails: Percentage of all polling places with impediments in the 
specified location area 6%.
Steps have no handrails: Percentage of all polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 5%.
Entrance to the building: Percentage of all polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 59%.
Door thresholds greater than one-half inch in height: Percentage of all 
polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 37%.
Closed doors that would be difficult for a person in a wheelchair to open:
Percentage of all polling places with impediments in the specified location 
area 26%.
Single-door openings less than 32 inches wide: Percentage of all polling 
places with
impediments in the specified location area 10%.
Double-door openings less than 32 inches wide: Percentage of all polling 
places with
impediments in the specified location area 5%.
Route from inside of the building to the voting room: Percentage of all 
polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 14%.
Single-door openings less than 32 inches wide: Percentage of all polling 
places with
impediments in the specified location area 5%.
Closed doors that would be difficult for a person in a wheelchair to open: 
Percentage of all polling places with
impediments in the specified location area 3%.
Notes: Potential impediments listed are those that occurred with the 
greatest frequency. Sampling
errors of the listed potential impediments range from 2 to 8 percentage 
points at the 95-percent
confidence level.
Source: GAO analysis of polling place data collected on November 7, 2000.

Begin Page 87
Appendix VI
Issues and Challenges Related to Voting Accommodations and Alternatives

Accommodations and alternatives: Curbside voting:
Allow voters who cannot enter the polling place to vote at the curbside of 
their neighborhood polling place. Advantages and disadvantages for voters: 
Advantage: Voters with disabilities may be able to vote outside their 
neighborhood polling places on Election Day.
Disadvantages: Some voters with disabilities: May see this accommodation as 
unequal
treatment and may prefer to vote as others in the polling room, may not want 
to draw special attention and feel that this represents a loss of dignity or 
independence, may not be able to cast a secret ballot, and may have 
difficulty voting if a poll worker is unavailable to provide assistance or 
weather is inclement.
Challenges for election officials: Provide and train staff at each polling 
place to ensure that voters who cannot enter the building are able to vote, 
and may require changing laws that prohibit using this accommodation.

Accommodations and alternatives: Reassignment: Allow voters to use another 
polling place on Election Day when their neighborhood polling place is not 
accessible.
Advantages and disadvantages for voters: Advantage: Voters with disabilities 
have an accessible polling place for voting on Election Day.
Disadvantages: Voters with disabilities may need to make an extra effort to: 
Become aware of accessibility problems and arrange reassignment with the 
election office, and travel farther to vote than other voters in their 
precinct.
Challenges for election officials: Identify polling places that may prevent 
access for some voters and communicate this issue to them so that they can 
arrange reassignment, identify an accessible polling place, provide 
appropriate ballots at reassigned polling place, and train poll workers to 
handle a reassigned voter.

Accommodations and alternatives: Superprecincts:
Locate the polling place for more than one precinct within the same building 
on Election Day.
Advantages and disadvantages for voters: Advantages: Voters with 
disabilities have an accessible polling place for voting on Election Day, 
and voters with disabilities are not required to travel farther than others.
Disadvantage: Some voters may be required to travel outside of their 
neighborhood to vote.
Challenges for election officials: Find an accessible facility that has 
sufficient space for voting and parking and will not require excessive 
travel for most voters.

Begin Page 88
Appendix VI
Issues and Challenges Related to Voting Accommodations and Alternatives
(Continued From Previous Page)

Accommodations and alternatives: Early voting: Allow voters to use one or 
more central sites
sometimes for a week or more, just before Election Day.
Advantages and disadvantages for voters: Advantages: Voters are provided 
with a more flexible time period for voting, and some voters with 
disabilities may find that these sites offer better access and voting 
equipment that allow them to vote independently.
Disadvantages: Voters with disabilities may prefer that the traditional 
polling places used on Election Day be fully accessible, and voters would 
not have access to late breaking information on candidates and ballot 
measures prior to casting their ballot.
Challenges for election officials: Establish sites and provide staff and 
resources, such as voting equipment and different ballot types, and mitigate 
any increased opportunity for fraudulent
voting.

Accommodations and alternatives: Less-restrictive absentee voting:
Allow less-restrictive use of absentee ballots, such as not requiring a 
reason to use temporary absentee ballots or allowing permanent absentee 
ballots.
Advantages and disadvantages for voters: Advantages: Voters have the 
convenience of being able to vote from home and greater flexibility in 
choosing when to vote.
Disadvantages: Voters, especially those needing assistance, may have a 
greater potential for experiencing inappropriate influence from other 
household members when voting, some voters with disabilities may find that 
requirements in some states for using permanent absentee voting (for 
example, providing doctor's certification) discourage use of this option, 
some voters with disabilities may prefer that the traditional polling places 
used on Election Day be fully accessible, and voters would not have access 
to late breaking information on candidates and ballot measures.
Challenges for election officials: Provide additional staff and other 
resources necessary to accommodate the expansion of absentee voting, such as 
for mailing, receiving, and counting additional absentee votes, develop 
procedures to maintain an accurate list of absentee voters, and balance 
providing voter convenience with fraud control.

Accommodations and alternatives: Universal vote-by-mail: Mail ballots to 
voters who can return them by mail or deposit them at designated locations, 
with exceptions for those who are unable to vote without assistance.
Advantages and disadvantages for voters: Advantages: Voters are allowed to 
vote from their own home and within an expanded time frame, and voters are 
provided with uniform statewide voting access that provides equal treatment 
for all.
Disadvantages: Voters who prefer using a polling place may resist this 
method, and voters may have increased potential for inappropriate influence 
from other household members.
Challenges for election officials: Assure uniformity of statewide system, if 
implemented at the state level, demonstrate reliability and security, 
provide staff and other resources necessary for maintaining an accurate list 
of voters and addresses as well as mailing, receiving, verifying, and 
counting votes, rely upon postal service to provide timely delivery of 
ballots, and provide another option for those who cannot use this method 
without assistance, such as sending staff to the residence of a voter with a 
disability.

Begin Page 89
Appendix VI
Issues and Challenges Related to Voting Accommodations and Alternatives
(Continued From Previous Page)

Accommodations and alternatives: Internet voting: Allow voters to cast a 
ballot using the Internet; implementation may be in several phases, starting 
at polling places and potentially expanding to kiosks and other remote 
locations, such a voter's home or office.
Advantages and disadvantages for voters: Advantages: Voters are provided 
greater flexibility to vote when they want and from convenient locations, if 
remote Internet voting is allowed, and blind individuals may be able to vote 
independently with special equipment and a web site that has been designed 
to provide universal access, per federal standards.
Disadvantages: Voters who are accustomed to traditional methods may resist 
this method, voters who lack a convenient connection to the Internet may not 
have equal access to voting, blind voters may need special equipment to 
allow them to use the Internet.
Challenges for election officials: Take steps (for example, pilot testing 
and certification) to ensure that the system is secure, reliable, cost 
effective, and accessible to disabled voters and that it allows voters to 
cast a secret ballot, develop operational procedures and train workers
to ensure sufficient technical support to maintain equipment and assist 
voters, educate public on security features and use of system, wait for 
technological improvements to ensure voter identity, secrecy, and integrity 
of the votes, if remote access is allowed, protect equipment from vandalism 
or tampering, if public kiosks are used, and ensure widespread availability 
of Internet access, if remote access is allowed.

Source: GAO analysis of comments by officials of organizations that 
represent the interests of election officials and people with disabilities.

Begin Page 90
Appendix VII
GAO Contacts and Staff Acknowledgments

GAO Contacts:
Barbara D. Bovbjerg, (202) 512-7215
Carol Dawn Petersen, (202) 512-7215

Staff Acknowledgments:
In addition to those named above, the following individuals made
significant contributions to this report: Michele Grgich, Alicia Puente
Cackley, Julie DeVault, Gretta L. Goodwin, Stephen S. Langley III, Robert
Tomco, Margaret Boeckmann, James Wright, Joel Grossman, and Patrick
DiBattista, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues; Joan Vogel,
Grant Mallie, and Art Kendall, Applied Research and Methods; Dayna K.
Shah and Behn Miller, General Counsel. Numerous staff from headquarters
and field offices who collected data for this report also made important
contributions.
GAO Job Code: 207099.

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