Accessible Voting

If you have a disability, you have the right to vote privately and independently. Every polling place in Texas must meet accessibility standards, and every polling place offers at least one accessible voting system. This page explains the services available to you in Caldwell County and how to request an accommodation.

When you go to the polls in Texas, you can expect your polling place to meet strict standards:

• A location on the ground floor that can be entered from the street, or reached by an elevator with doors that open at least 36 inches;
• Doors, entrances, and exits at least 32 inches wide;
• Curb cuts or temporary non-slip ramps at any curb next to the main entrance;
• Handrails on each side of any stairs, plus a non-slip ramp;
• Barriers that impede a person with a physical disability — gravel, automatically closing gates, closed doors without lever-type handles — removed from the path to the voting station.

Voting systems must accommodate no vision, low vision, no hearing, low hearing, limited manual dexterity, limited reach, limited strength, no mobility, low mobility, or any combination of these (except the combination of no hearing and no vision).

On September 1, 1999, Texas became the first state to require that all new voting systems be accessible to voters with disabilities and provide a practical and effective means of casting a secret ballot. In every federal election, and in most non-federal elections, each polling place offers at least one accessible voting system. Depending on the system, you may vote directly on the machine or be assisted in marking a paper ballot, and you may use headphones or other assistive devices to vote independently and privately.

If you need help to vote, simply tell an election official — you do not have to provide proof of your disability. You may be assisted by any person you choose who is not an election worker, by two election workers on Election Day, or by one election worker during early voting. You may not be assisted by your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of a union you belong to.

The person assisting you must read you the entire ballot unless you ask for only parts of it, and must take an oath that they will not try to influence your vote and will mark the ballot exactly as you direct. It is illegal for an assistant to influence your vote, mark your ballot other than as you asked, or tell anyone how you voted. Section 208 of the federal Voting Rights Act provides for voters who need assistance by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write.

If you choose to be assisted by polling place officials, poll watchers and election inspectors may observe the process. If you are assisted by a person of your own choosing, no one else may watch you vote.

Curbside voting is available to any voter who has difficulty walking or standing for long periods, with no advance arrangement needed:

1. Park near the polling place entrance and look for the posted curbside voting sign.
2. Let an election official know you are there. If someone is with you, have them go inside and notify an official; if you are alone, call the number shown on the curbside sign or follow the procedure posted at the location.
3. Vote from your vehicle. An election official will bring the ballot out to your car.

A voter who is 65 years of age or older, or who has a disability, may ask an election officer at the polling place to be given priority in the line. Notice of this right is posted at every polling place in Texas — see the Texas Secretary of State's guidance for voters with special needs.

Voters who cannot speak English, or who communicate only in sign language, may use an interpreter to communicate with election officials — whether or not the officials speak the same language. You may select any person as your interpreter other than your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of a union you belong to. If you cannot read the languages on the ballot, your interpreter may also act as your assistant, following the assistance rules above.

Deaf voters: if you will not have a sign language interpreter with you, please contact the Elections Office before the election to request assistance — (512) 668-4347 or caldwellec@co.caldwell.tx.us.

During early voting you may vote at any early voting site in the political subdivision holding the election — you are not restricted to your precinct. If you will be 65 or older on Election Day, have a disability, or will be outside the county for the entire early voting period and on Election Day, you may apply to vote by mail. Submit a completed and signed application any time from the 60th to the 11th day before Election Day. Early voting sites and hours are on the where to vote page.

• Texas Secretary of State — Elections Division: P.O. Box 12060, Austin, TX 78711-2060 · (512) 463-5650 or 1-800-252-VOTE (8683) · TTY 7-1-1
• Disability Rights Texas — Voting Rights Project: 2222 West Braker Lane, Austin, TX 78758 · 1-888-796-VOTE (8683), voice/TTY · disabilityrightstx.org
• Coalition of Texans with Disabilities: 1716 San Antonio Street, Austin, TX 78701 · (512) 478-3366 · info@txdisabilities.org