Chicagoans checking where to vote on Election Day may be surprised to learn that less than 10% of the city’s polling places are marked as accessible to people with disabilities. Disability Law.
The Chicago Board of Elections required the city to make all polling places fully accessible to people with disabilities in this past election, despite receiving a four-year extension from the U.S. Department of Justice. We acknowledge that we did not meet the deadlines resulting from the investigation of
“Under our agreement with the Justice Department, we are falling short of our target,” said Max Bieber, the board’s director of public affairs.
But despite acknowledging that, Bever maintains that the majority of polling stations are accessible to people with disabilities, saying the problem lies in how the information is reported. If a site is not fully compliant with his ADA, it will not be listed as accessible. This will be changed by the board ahead of his February local elections.
“Overwhelming majority [of Chicago’s polling places] Bever said, noting that temporary ramps and boards are often used to crack sidewalks.
Sites that are not considered ADA compliant can have many problems, such as stairs, no private parking near the entrance, or no bathrooms. Federal law covers both physical and mental disabilities.
Signs indicate wheelchair-accessible entrances to polling places in the South Austin area in 2016.
Tasos Katopodis/AFP/Getty Images File
Bieber said while the board compiled data for this year’s election site, officials were “very surprised” to realize how few were listed as compliant. All 52 early voting sites are listed as “fully ADA compliant,” so this issue did not arise during early voting preparations.
Since then, the Board has worked ahead of the February election to divide polling places into three categories: “fully ADA compliant, accessible to voters with disabilities, and inaccessible to voters with disabilities.” I went.
“We know we need to report this information better in the future,” said Bever. “We realized there was more complexity out there.”
But according to some disability advocates, the planned changes aren’t enough.
Robin Jones, director of the Great Lakes ADA, a program at the University of Illinois at Chicago that serves as a resource for Midwesterners with disabilities, said that given the wide range of mental and physical disabilities, more I said I needed to provide a lot of information.
“‘Accessible’ is kind of a blanket term, but it doesn’t tell you anything about what to expect,” says Jones. “The more information you give people about accessible elements, the better the results.
Voters will cast their ballots at Chicago High School of the Arts on March 17, 2020.
Brian Rich/Sun-Times File
Jones argues that it would be better to follow the model of what hotels are expected to do under the ADA. There, accommodations should identify accessibility options and issues so that people with disabilities can decide for themselves if the location is suitable for them.
Bever said the board has this information but “cannot afford” all the details on the online list. He said the board will provide details of individual polling places to anyone who calls.
the problem is “out” [the board’s]Control is difficult, Biver said, given that they do not own property and rely heavily on election day property owned by cities and states. He said more than 400 buildings were under construction to make it easier to access.
These changes are the result of an investigation conducted by the Department of Justice in February 2016 into whether Chicago polling places were “ADA compliant.” This led to a 2017 settlement calling on the city to make all polling places accessible to people with disabilities before the November 2018 elections, though the deadline was later set for him in 2022. It has been extended until November.
153 sites remain to be surveyed ahead of the February 28 city council elections, 40 have already been found to have steps on the way to entrances or polling stations, and 756 are considered “disabled”. It has been removed as “accessible to most voters.” A federally funded organization based in Chicago that was hired by the city after the settlement, according to research conducted by Equip for Equality.
“We don’t want to use buildings that present ADA issues, but given that many of our buildings are in Chicago, we are still at this middle ground,” Bever said, noting that the board would not. Add a new site that is not fully compliant with the ADA you added.
If people with disabilities can’t access the building, options include voting by mail, Biver said. , with only 52 early voting locations citywide, insists transportation remains a problem.
Voters are handed her “I voted!” Warren West of her Rogers Park neighborhood after early voting stickers for her June primary at her park.
Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times File
And if voters with disabilities choose to vote, they should not be denied the right to vote in person on Election Day, she said.
“I would say they now offer more options. [but] The reality is that people with disabilities aren’t as accessible as people without disabilities,” Jones said.
More than 30 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted and nearly six years after the Justice Department settlement, Jones said the city has yet to meet its goals with a “very high It’s frustrating,” he said.
“We still have a long way to go,” she said.
