Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/20a67_3e04.pdf
Page Number: 4.0

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MERRILL v. PEOPLE FIRST OF ALABAMA 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

generally, not in-person voting specifically, and that absen-
tee  voting  ensures  access  to  that  benefit.    But  under  the 
ADA, “[t]he benefit itself . . . cannot be defined in a way that 
effectively denies otherwise qualified handicapped individ-
uals the meaningful access to which they are entitled.”  Al-
exander v. Choate, 469 U. S. 287, 301 (1985).  In-person vot-
ers receive assistance from poll workers; need no witnesses, 
notaries,  or  copies of  their photo  IDs,  as  Alabama  law  re-
quires for absentee ballots; and know their ballot will not 
arrive too late or be rejected for failure to comply with ab-
sentee ballots’ many requirements.  ___ F. Supp. 3d, at ___, 
2020 WL 5814455, *59–*60.  Absentee and in-person voting 
are different benefits, and voters with disabilities are enti-
tled to equal access to both. 
  The District Court’s modest injunction is a reasonable ac-
commodation, given the short time before the election.  It 
does  not  require  all  counties  to  adopt  curbside  voting;  it 
simply  gives  prepared  counties  the  option  to  do  so.    This 
remedy respects both the right of voters with disabilities to 
vote safely and the State’s interest in orderly elections.  The 
District Court’s compromise likewise does not risk creating 
“voter confusion and consequent incentive to remain away 
from the polls.”  Purcell v. Gonzalez, 549 U. S. 1, 4–5 (2006) 
(per  curiam).    The  injunction  lifts  burdensome  require-
ments rather than imposing them, and permits county offi-
cials to help educate voters about whether curbside voting 
is  available  in  their  county.    See  ___  F.  Supp.  3d,  at  ___, 
2020  WL  5814455,  *44.    Moreover,  the  injunction  neither 
invalidates state law nor prohibits the secretary from issu-
ing  guidance  consistent  with  the  District  Court’s  ruling.  
Id., at *45, *61–*62. 
  Plaintiff Howard Porter, Jr., a Black man in his seventies 
with  asthma  and  Parkinson’s  Disease,  told  the  District 
Court: “ ‘[S]o many of my [ancestors] even died to vote.  And 
while I don’t mind dying to vote, I think we’re past that – 
we’re past that time.’ ”  Id., at *11, *15.  Election officials in