Services Available to Voters with Special Needs in Texas
The State of Texas has made groundbreaking efforts to increase ballot accessibility for all voters, including elderly voters, voters with disabilities, and voters who do not read or speak English or Spanish.
- Texas is the national leader in requiring voting system accessibility; we are the first state to require that all voting systems purchased after September 1, 1999 be accessible to voters with disabilities and provide a practical and effective means for voters with disabilities to cast a secret ballot.
- State law provides that all polling places must meet strict accessibility standards.
- If you are in need of assistance in reading or marking your ballot, you may choose a friend to help you vote or you may request assistance from election officials.
- If you do not understand the language being spoken in the polling place or in which the ballot is written, you may bring an interpreter into the polling place.
- If you are physically unable to enter the polling place, you may remain in your vehicle and vote curbside.
- If you find it difficult to vote at your assigned polling place on Election Day, you may choose to vote at a more convenient time and location by voting early in person or, if you qualify, you may choose to vote by mail.
Accessible Voting Systems
- In order to provide voters with a practical and effective means to cast an independent and secret ballot, voting systems acquired after September 1, 1999 must be accessible to voters with physical disabilities. The disabilities that the systems must accommodate are: no vision, low vision, no hearing, low hearing, limited manual dexterity, limited reach, limited strength, no mobility, low mobility, or any combination of the foregoing (except the combination of no hearing and no vision).
- As of January 1, 2006, every polling place used in Texas elections must have a minimum of one DRE for use by voters with disabilities.
- Accessible voting systems in Texas make use of Direct Recording Electronic devices ( "DRE's"). DRE's are composed of paperless, computerized voting units that allow you to vote directly on the system. Depending on the type of DRE system used, voters with disabilities may use headphones or other assistive devices to vote independently and secretly.
All Polling Places in Texas Must be Accessible
The State of Texas has been a leader in formulating laws requiring all polling places to be accessible to persons who are elderly or physically disabled. The standards for what constitutes an accessible polling place include the following:
- The voting area must be: (1) on the ground floor, which can be entered from the street; or (2) accessible by an elevator with doors providing an opening of at least 36 inches.
- Doors, entrances, and exits used to enter or to leave the polling place must have a minimum width of 32 inches.
- Any curb next to the main entrance to the polling place must have curb-cuts or temporary non-slip ramps.
- Any stairs necessary to enter or leave the polling place must have handrails on each side of the stairs and a non-slip ramp.
- The polling place may not have any barriers such as gravel, automatically closing gates, closed doors without lever-type handles, or any other barrier that impedes the path of the physically disabled to the voting station.
Voters May Receive Assistance at the Polls
You are entitled to receive assistance if you:
- Cannot read or write; or
- Have a physical disability that prevents you from reading or marking the ballot.
Tell the election official that you need help to vote. You do not have to provide proof of your disability.
You may be assisted by:
- Any person of your choice;
- Two election workers on Election Day; or
- 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 your union.
The person assisting you must read you the entire ballot, unless you ask to have only parts of the ballot read. The person assisting you must take an oath that he or she will not try to influence your vote and will mark your ballot as you direct. If you choose to be assisted by polling place officials, poll watchers and/or state and federal election inspectors present in the polling place may observe the voting process to be sure that the ballot has been marked as you requested. If you ask to be assisted by a person of your choosing, no one else may watch you vote.
It is illegal for a person assisting you to:
- Try to influence your vote;
- Mark your ballot in a way other than the way you have asked; or
- Tell anyone how you voted.
Voters May Use Interpreters at the Polls
If you cannot speak English, or if you communicate only with sign language, you may use an interpreter to help you communicate with election officials. You may select any registered voter of your county to be your interpreter. If you cannot read the languages on the ballot, your interpreter may translate the ballot for you in the voting booth.
Curbside Voting
If you are physically unable to enter the polling place, you may ask that an election officer bring a ballot to you at the entrance of the polling place or to a car at curbside. After you mark the ballot, give it to the election officer who will put it in the ballot box. Or, at your request, a companion may hand you a ballot and deposit it for you. TIP: If you plan to go alone to vote curbside, it is wise to call ahead so election officials will expect you. Generally speaking, you may vote curbside during the early voting period (the 17th day before Election Day until the 4th day before Election Day) or on Election Day.
To find out the location of the main early voting polling place, call the local early voting clerk. The early voting clerk in county elections is the county clerk or elections administrator; the early voting clerk in other elections is the secretary of the board of the governing body of the political subdivision. You may find the relevant telephone numbers by looking in the government section of your telephone directory or by calling directory assistance. For contact information for county election officials, you may also look on the Secretary of State's website at www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/county.
Voters May Vote Early, Either in Person or by Mail
You may vote during the early voting period (the 17th day before Election Day until the 4th day before Election Day) at any early voting site in the political subdivision holding the election. Alternatively, if you will be 65 years of age or older on Election Day, have a disability, or will be outside the county during early voting hours and on Election Day, you may apply to vote by mail. Simply submit a completed and signed application for a ballot by mail any time from the 60th to the 7th day before Election Day to the proper early voting clerk. For further information on voting early in person or by mail, including information on assistance in requesting, marking, or mailing a ballot by mail, please read our pamphlet titled "Early Voting in Texas."
For more information, Contact:
The Secretary of State's office, your County Clerk, County Elections Administrator or the Voter Registrar in your county.
SECRETARY OF STATE
Elections Division
P.O. Box 12060
Austin, Texas 78711-2060
512.463.5650 or 1.800.252.VOTE (8683)
Fax 512.475.2811, TTY 7.1.1
www.sos.state.tx.us
Published by the Elections Division of the Secretary of State's office. This pamphlet is available in Spanish, large print, audiotape, or computer disc upon request.
(Este folleto está disponible en Español, tipo de imprenta más grande, cinta magnética para audio, o disco para computadora. Para conseguir una de estas versiones por favor llame sin cargo a la oficina del Secretario de Estado al 1.800.252.VOTE (8683)).
Rev: 02/19/08 E.H.W.