- So welcome.
My name is Molly Broadway
and I am the Training and Technical Support Specialists
for voting rights with Disability Rights Texas.
If you're here, I'm hoping you're willing to learn more
about the rights and accommodations one can receive
if they are deaf or hard of hearing for voting.
So if you're not familiar, I'd love to take some time
and talk to you about what specifically my job is
within Disability Rights Texas
and then also what Disability Rights Texas is.
So we'll start off with the agency.
If you're not familiar, Disability Rights Texas
is the state of Texas Protection and Advocacy Agency.
So what that means is basically there is
a protection and advocacy agency or what we call P&As.
There's a P&A in each state
and we exist for the sole purpose of helping advance
and secure the rights of people with disabilities.
It's a pretty broad term
but we like it that way because it allows us
to a lot of flexibility in how we assist people.
One of the ways we do that is through the
Help America Vote Act, which we receive funding from.
The Help America Vote Act is a federal law that was passed
in our country's election system.
And the overall goal is to make the voting
process more inclusive and accessible.
So that means that I now get to travel around the state
when there's not a pandemic going on or if there is
we get to talk virtually like this to each other
but I go around the state serving polling places
and checking for ADA accessibility.
I work with election officials and poll workers
to make sure they are doing everything they can
to best serve voters with disabilities.
I also train individuals within the community
about what their voting rights are
and the types of accommodations they can receive.
I respond to legislative inquiries
which is pretty important right now
because there's a legislative session going on.
So any time an advocacy group
or a legislator has a question about how
a potential law may affect the disability community
or the world of voting within the disability community
they will come and ask me questions.
We also run a statewide voter rights hotline
and it is all accessible.
So if you're voting and you feel as though
there's an issue coming up
and you are being denied your right to vote
or you just have questions, you can call that voter hotline
and I will answer the phone or my coworkers will.
And we'll answer your questions
and solve your issues in as much real time as possible.
It's a statewide voter hotline.
It's open Monday through Friday year round
but obviously we're a bit more busy during voting times.
And that phone number,
if you should need it in the future is 1 888 796 8683.
So there's a quick rundown of our agency
and what I do to help serve y'all.
So I thought we could maybe just jump right
into voting rights.
If you're not familiar, we'll go over the basics.
So how has one eligible to vote within the US?
You have to be a US citizen.
You have to be 18 years of age or older.
And if you were currently serving a sentence
for being convicted for a felony, excuse me
it's always hard to say, if you were currently
serving a sentence for a felony conviction
you can not vote, but if you have completed your sentence
meaning you've done all your time serve
you've completed your probation, your parole
and you've paid all your fees
and you are now considered what's called off paper.
Then you are eligible to vote again.
We also get a lot of questions about guardianship
and one's right to vote.
And a brief answer to that is the only person who can say
that you do or do not have a right to vote
within your guardianship is a judge.
So let's say my aunt is my guardian, but a judge has said
in my guardianship paperwork that I am allowed to vote
that I do have the right to vote.
My aunt may say, "Molly, you know what?
I know, there's an election coming up and you wanna vote,
but I just don't think you've done the proper homework
or you really know what you're doing,
or where you need to go.
Or, you know what, I know what you're gonna vote for.
And I don't agree with it.
So I don't think you should vote."
My aunt can't say that to me, because I do have the right.
And she can't make that decision for me.
The only person who does is that judge.
And so I can tell her, well, thanks for your input aunt
but I'm still gonna vote anyway
because my guardianship paperwork
and a judge has said that I can.
So that's how you're eligible to vote.
So let's say you meet all those qualifications
and you would like to now register to vote.
There's probably a three-step process involved.
First, you got to fill out a voter registration form
and there's a couple of ways to do that.
You can contact your local elections office
and ask them to assist you in filling out the application
or the voter registration form.
You can also ask the County elections office to see
if they can get you in touch with what's called
a volunteer deputy registrar.
And these are people who have been trained
and certified by the County to assist you
in filling out your voter registration form.
And then they can turn the form in for you.
So you can find a volunteer that'd be a registrar
to assist you in completing the form and turning it in.
You can ask the County to assist you in completing the form.
Also know that they're available.
The voter registration forms are available
at multiple locations like public libraries,
health and human services offices.
So like WIC, SNAP, Texas workforce commission.
Offices should have some voter registration forms
DPS offices, County elections offices, post offices
and even high schools.
If you are a high school student
you can register to vote there your high school as well.
There's also the option of getting a form online
getting the voter registration form online
from the Texas secretary of state website,
having filling out that form online, printing it,
signing the form then mailing it
to your County elections office.
It's important to know that
Texas does not allow online voter registration.
You can access the form online and you can fill it out
on your computer, but you cannot turn it in online.
So just remember that.
So you filled it all out.
Now it's time to turn in the form.
If you are working with volunteer, deputy registrar
they can turn in the form for you.
So you can just give it back to them
and they'll do what they need to do, or you can mail it.
So if you have a card
if you've picked up a card from somewhere
you can just fold up that card and stick it in the mail.
There's no postage necessary,
or you can print out that application that you filled out,
stick it in the mail.
There should not be any postage necessary on that either.
Once your application is received
from the County election
or received from the County elections office,
they will process it.
And it'll take probably about 30 days
to receive your voter registration card in the mail.
So I'll look out for that.
Voter registration card is there to say
that you have been approved and certified to vote
within the County that you live
and in the state as well, but the County mostly.
So you've registered to vote.
You got your voter registration card.
You're good to go, but maybe you are interested.
So there's a lot of different ways you can vote
mainly by in-person voting at a polling site
or through ballot by mail.
And I wanna talk about Ballot By Mail.
So, Ballot By Mail, is an avenue of voting is an option
for people who are 65 or older,
or those that have a disability.
It's a separate application process from voter registration.
So if you've already registered, you can fill
out an application for ballot by mail.
And you can do that annually to where you only have to
fill out one application each year
and a ballot can be mailed to you
for that entire year of elections.
What ballot by mail is
it provides an alternative means of voting.
If you're unable to leave your home
due to your disability status,
or you'll be out of the County
during early voting or election day.
You are eligible for this accommodation,
if you're gonna be out of County.
So like I was talking with a young lady
who is gonna be starting college in the fall.
But she still wants to vote.
So she is going to apply for Ballot By Mail
because she will be out of her County attending school
but she can still receive her ballot
from the County if she fills out this application.
And like I said
you can do this for early voting and election day.
If you are incarcerated, you can access a ballot by mail
but you can not have a felony conviction.
If you have a disability, are 65 years of age or older.
In the last election, we received a lot of questions
about how one is eligible or the definition of disability.
And I'd like to just review that
because I feel like it may come up again.
Please know that the Texas election code defines disability
as to include a sickness or physical condition
that prevents the voter from appearing
at the polling place on election day, without a likelihood
of needing assistance or injuring the voting's health,
excuse me, the voters health.
So that is what a lot of people may have questions
about if they fall within the disability category
and that definition exists to help people decide
if they do or do not.
So let's say you fill
out your application for ballot by mail.
You receive it, it gets processed and your ballot
comes in the mail and you're ready to fill it out.
We'll talk a little more about this
but you can have an assistant help you fill out the ballot.
Know that your ballots are due no later,
I'm sorry the applications are due.
So the application for ballot by mail is due
no later than 11 days before election day.
And there are also ways to access that application being
you can ask your County elections office
for an application for ballot by mail
or you can go online to your County elections office.
A lot of places will have, a lot of counties should have
this form available online.
And then also the Texas secretary of state's website
we'll have that available too, that you can fill out
on your computer and you still need to print it out
and send it to your County elections office to be processed.
We got the ballot by mail part covered
but let's talk about voting in person.
There are different ways to vote with
or without accommodations.
In person, excuse me
in-person voting and election day.
Please know that a couple of things
every polling site is required to be physically accessible.
If it's not, you can call me
and I will work with the County on fixing that.
But then also know that there are a couple of services
you have the right to access.
Should you meet the qualifications.
If you would like to receive interpreter services
you have the right to access that.
What I would encourage you to do
is to contact your County elections office ahead of time
and request an interpreter.
I like to tell people to schedule a date
to receive an interpreter at a polling sites.
So call your County elections office, tell them
that you're gonna show up at this particular voting site
on this particular day, at this time.
And you would like an interpreter to meet you there
so you can cast your ballot.
You also have the right to bring your own interpreter.
It can be anyone of your choosing
as long as it is not your employer,
an employer's agent or your union representative.
If you call the County, if you call your County and they say
that they will not provide an interpreter for you
this is a great opportunity to call us
at Disability Rights Texas.
And we will work on solving that
which is also why I encourage people to call ahead of time.
That way you're not in a fix
where you're at the polling site
you need someone to help you
and there's no one available and you're crunched for time.
So this allows us a little more flexibility
and some extra time to work on it
with the counties to make sure you get
what you are entitled to.
Additional accommodations you may receive.
Know that there for federal elections in the state of Texas,
there is required to be at least
one accessible voting machine at each polling site.
Texas is usually pretty good about this.
They're required in each federal election,
but also generally speaking in other elections,
Texas is pretty good about providing that
accessible voting machine as well.
What makes us machine different than others?
Well, if it's the electronic voting machine
can provide the ballot print in large print.
There's an audio portion of the ballot.
And then there are extended remotes
to help voters mark the ballot
if they cannot reach the screen.
A lot of counties are getting new machines right now.
And so a lot of people are unfamiliar
with how the new machines work.
So if you need to bring an assistant with you,
know that you have the right to do that.
It can be someone of your choosing
as long as it's not your employer or union representative
but also know that you can ask a poll worker
to help you as well.
That service provided by poll workers as well.
You can also go via curbside voting.
This is available to every polling site
in the state of Texas.
What this is, is it's available
to voters that have a disability
or cannot stand in line for long periods of time
or they're not able to access the polling site because
it's physically inaccessible or dangerous to the individual.
But what happens is you can drive up
to the curbside voting location, which is usually
it may just be you driving up into the parking lot.
They may have a designated accessible parking spot
in which hopefully there's some sort of button
you can push that will bring a poll worker out to you.
Or you will have to ask somebody to go get a
poll worker and let them know that you're here.
Again, always call me if you are finding difficulty
in situations like this.
And my job is to help solve that for you.
So curbside voting, basically what's gonna happen
is your spot in line gets saved.
When that spot comes up to the registration desk
in the polling site,
they will take the accessible voting machine out to you
because it can be removed from the stand that it sits on.
They we'll bring the voting machine out to you.
You can mark your ballot, cast it, and then give it back
to the poll worker and they will bring the ballot
or the machine back into the polling site.
And you can go on your merry way.
Has the same accessibility tools
and accessories is available in inside the polling spot.
So just heads up about that.
Also, I believe we've touched on this before,
but if you are voting via mail
if you're receiving your ballot by mail
you also have the right to assistance as well.
It just, the same guidelines exist is where
it cannot be your employer or your union representative.
Know that if you have an assistant
either at the polling site or via ballot by mail
they will have to sign a little affidavit stating
that they helped you.
But at this point, that's all they really need to do.
There's a big question of, when I interact with voters,
there's a big question of,
I kind of knew that these options existed
to assist me in voting
but I'm not sure about how to ask for them.
So I kind of reviewed that real quick
and hopefully this will be useful for you.
Interpreter services, like I said
you can contact the County elections offices
or the County election office ahead of time and request one.
The County must provide an interpreter
to you if you request it.
So it's good to ask ahead of time if you need that.
You currently can bring someone of your choosing
to provide interpreter services for you.
The accessible voting machines, like I said,
there should be one at each polling site.
When you arrive at the polling site
you can inform the poll workers that you would like to use
the accessible voting machine or what they call the DRE.
That machine should be up and working.
And the poll workers should know how to use it
so that you can cast your ballot
privately and independently.
Applying for ballot by mail.
There's an online application.
If you have a screen reader, it should be accessible
via screen reader to fill out that application.
You can also request a paper application to be sent to you
through the secretary of state's office
or your County elections office.
Again, if you access the form online
you will need to print it out, sign it and mail it
into your County elections office.
And then also if you need,
you can have someone serve as an interpreter
of what's on the form for you as well.
If you wanna take it a step further
I also encourage voters to interact
with their County elections office
and encourage counties to set up
election or polling sites
in deaf interpreter, friendly locations.
Some counties do this, and I think it's pretty useful
but know that these services,
these accommodations are available to you
at every polling site within your County.
So again, if you find that that is not the issue
let us know, and we'll work on that.
So you're, well-informed about what your accommodations are
and how to access those services.
But now maybe you're wondering
about where you can find information to vote.
Know that there's a couple of good resources
that I like to refer people to.
The League of Women Voters.
Your local league of women voters
puts out a voters guide for every election
that informs the voters about what's happening
in the local elections or statewide elections.
So it breaks it down by issue.
If there's different bonds to vote on
or different laws to vote on this guide will help
break down that information in plain language.
So it's easier to understand
and it's not in political jargon.
So the League of Women Voters
you can access the League of Women Voters guide.
You can access, on vote411.org.
And this is nonpartisan information on local elections.
It's a great resource.
I also encourage you to visit candidate websites
or visit town halls or talk to your friends and family
about some of the issues that are going on.
Get in touch with your libraries,
see if they can provide options
for you on where to find all this information as well.
We can also cover voter ID if you would like.
Basically you there's seven forms of approved voter ID
that must be provided to the polling site.
If you vote in person,
and that is they're all Texas ID.
So it's or Texas approved documentation.
So it can be your state identification card,
your state driver's license.
Your concealed handgun license, a US military ID card,
a US passport, a US citizenship card
but it also must have your photo on there as well.
And an election ID
which is basically the same as a state ID, but it's free.
So if you don't have any of these other six forms
you can always access your election ID.
You can go to the DPS office and request one.
And as long as you have the supporting documentation to say
that you are who you say you are
you can access that card for free.
There are some supporting, if you don't have any
of those seven forms, there are other supporting forms
of documentation you can provide.
Know that you will have to sign a reasonable impediment form
that States why you don't have
one of the seven approved forms of ID.
The supporting forms of ID that you can bring
is your voter registration card,
basically any kind of utility bill
that has your name and address on it.
A bank statement that has your name and address on it.
Basically any kind of government document
that shows your name and address
so that it verifies that you are living
where you say you're living.
You could provide a certified birth certificate as well
but then you'd have to fill out that form.
And once that's done, you can go on and vote as you plan to.
So you got all your IDs, you got your information
you know how to access everything that you need
to cast your ballot, private and then independently.
So now it's time to make a plan of how to go vote.
So obviously there's a checklist.
We've made a little checklist for you to double check
or if you want to give this to your friends
it's a great tool to have a voting conversation with them.
So are you registered?
Yes or no?
Or if you aren't, are you registered to vote?
Do we need to do that?
Think about how you're going to vote?
Is it going to be in person or by mail,
if you're gonna vote in person
are you gonna go on election day or during early voting?
Do you need to request a mail ballot?
If that's the case, let's look at getting you
a application for ballot by mail.
When will you vote?
If you vote in person, what day, what time are you gonna go?
Where will you vote?
Figure out what polling site you wanna visit.
Do you need a map on how to get there?
How will you get there?
Do you need a ride, is it on a bus line?
Do you have a friend or family member who can take you?
Also see if there's a sample ballot, you can review
that way you kind of know what you're gonna be voting for
before you get into the polling site.
And if you study up beforehand
your voting process will be that much quicker.
And then also you can bring that sample ballot
in as kind of a cheat sheet as well.
Do you need assistance when you vote?
Yes or no?
Okay. If you do need assistance, what kind is it?
Do you need an interpreter?
Do you need to access the accessible voting machine?
Is it something else?
And then who can you bring with you to vote?
If you do need an assistant or an interpreter,
at this point in time, it can be anybody of your choosing
as long as it's not your employer or union representative.
So it could be your aunt Sally,
it could be your 17 year old child.
It could be me.
It could be whomever, as long as
they're willing to sign an affidavit
stating that they are going to assist you.
So that's about it.
That's a crash course in voting
and how to access the accommodations
that are available to you.
Should you have any questions in the future,
I encourage you to contact Disability Rights Texas
through our voter hotline.
There's also, you can contact me via email if you would like
and we will have all that information available
to you as well.
Thank you for your time and happy voting.