One in four U.S. adults lives with a disability, and for decades, ensuring they could vote was a bipartisan priority.
But in recent months, a wave of court rulings and legislative efforts, largely driven by the GOP, has eroded vital protections that voters with disabilities have long relied on.
A federal appeals court weakened a key protection for voters with disabilities. And several states passed laws that criminalize efforts to assist voters, or imposed new ID requirements, while Georgia even accused the ride-share company Lyft of violating the law by offering voters discounted rides to the polls — all steps that hit voters with disabilities hardest.
Meanwhile, one of the most crucial lifelines for people with disabilities — mail voting — is now in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump and his party.
“Efforts to undermine, restrict or eliminate the accessible voting options for people with disabilities have a chilling effect on all voters,” James Ziegra, senior staff attorney at Disability Rights Center New Hampshire — a state that has been a leader in restricting access for voters with disabilities — told Democracy Docket. “These efforts echo a dark history of voter suppression targeting people with disabilities, likely violate their legal rights, and undermine overall confidence in our elections.”
A proud legacy squandered
Unlike many other groups targeted by the GOP, people with disabilities don’t typically vote as a cohesive bloc, which has largely shielded them from partisan attacks over access to the ballot.
In fact, in 1984, then-President Ronald Reagan signed the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (VAEHA), requiring polling places in federal elections to be physically accessible or to offer reasonable alternatives. In 1990, then-President George H.W. Bush declared the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) a “comprehensive declaration of equality” as he signed it into law. And in 2002, then-President George W. Bush signed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), expanding accessible voting technology and requiring that every polling place offer at least one machine that allowed voters with disabilities to cast a private ballot.
But that commitment to voting access for people with disabilities began to weaken as the GOP recast voting rights through the lens of “election integrity.” Over the past decade, emboldened by Trump’s leadership, Republicans grew more focused on shrinking the electorate to maintain partisan advantage.
Voters with disabilities were never the politically intended target, but the systems and infrastructure that protect their access — absentee ballots, accessible voting machines — make elections more inclusive overall. So attacks on voters hit voters with disabilities even harder.
An assault on mail voting
For people who cannot drive, face mobility challenges or cannot safely navigate polling places, absentee ballots make voting possible. And that historical consideration for disabled voters has helped make mail voting more widely available to everyone.
In the 1970s and 80s, states began carving out absentee ballot access for people with health conditions, physical limitations or caregiving responsibilities. Over time, those exceptions expanded, and many states adopted “no-excuse” absentee voting, opening up mail ballots to the broader electorate.
What began as an accommodation became an essential option that millions of voters, disabled and non-disabled alike, came to rely on. Last year, over 47 million voters cast a mail ballot, around 30% of all ballots cast.
When the pandemic forced a rapid expansion of vote-by-mail in 2020, more than half of voters with disabilities cast their ballot through the mail. People with disabilities used mail voting at higher rates than the general population, reducing, but not eliminating, the turnout gap between disabled and non-disabled voters.
But even in less extraordinary elections, mail voting remains one of the most widely used tools for closing participation barriers. Now, it’s under the most aggressive and coordinated attack yet.
In March, Trump issued an executive order seeking to impose proof-of-citizenship requirements on federal registration forms and to bar states from accepting mail ballots that arrive after Election Day, even if postmarked before. Courts blocked much of that order, but in August, Trump doubled down, pledging to “get rid of” mail voting altogether before the 2026 midterms.
Although Trump clearly lacks the authority to do so, the threat alone has amplified right-wing suspicion of absentee ballots, emboldened state-level crackdowns and alarmed disability rights groups.
“Eliminating mail voting and mandating paper ballot-only elections are both very damaging for people with disabilities,” Christian Adcock, voting rights and public policy specialist at Disability Rights Arkansas, told Democracy Docket. “Because the very voters who need accommodations to cast a ballot would be the ones cut out.”
Criminalizing voter assistance
For many voters with disabilities, casting a ballot often requires help — from a family member, caregiver, neighbor or community volunteer.
Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act ensures that anyone who needs assistance because of a disability can receive help from a person of their choice. But that safeguard was gutted earlier this year by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals which held that private citizens and organizations can no longer sue to enforce Section 208.
Only the Department of Justice can now bring such cases in the Eighth Circuit — Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota — effectively shutting down complaints from voters with disabilities who encounter assistance-based barriers in those states.
“When you get rid of that private right of action, and make everything rely exclusively on the Department of Justice, it’s kind of a logistical challenge,” Adcock said. “There simply isn’t enough staff to go around to bring these suits where they’re needed.”
The GOP immediately rushed to try to expand the ruling beyond the Eighth Circuit’s jurisdiction.
Indeed, some red states have already been moving in that direction. Alabama passed a law criminalizing nearly all third-party help with absentee ballot applications, threatening volunteers and neighbors with felony charges of up to 20 years in prison. Mississippi has banned anyone outside a voter’s immediate family or household from helping return an absentee ballot. And Texas tightened restrictions on who can provide assistance to voters with disabilities, adding new ID requirements for helpers and exposing them to criminal penalties if they fail to fill out paperwork precisely as prescribed.
The Texas law, known as S.B. 1, was upheld Friday by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, allowing Texas to enforce the extreme provisions. A separate case, however, found those provisions violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) so they remain blocked while appeals continue.
Other states have also attempted to restrict the use of prefilled absentee ballot applications, tools that historically made the process easier for disabled or limited-language voters.
‘Our elections are stronger when everyone participates’
Then there are voter ID laws.
Obtaining or renewing an ID requires travel, paperwork and fees that are difficult, if not impossible for those with mobility or health limitations to fulfill. In states where mail voting is directly tied to ID requirements, the hurdle is even higher.
New Hampshire, arguably the hardest state in which to vote by mail, has gone even further in recent weeks.
Senate Bill 287, signed into law by Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R), requires voters to provide proof of identity every time they request an absentee ballot. That proof must come in the form of a photocopied ID, a notarized signature or an in-person verification at the clerk’s office. For voters who cannot drive, leave their homes or access a notary, the requirement may mean losing the ability to vote at all.
Even efforts by voters with disabilities to make it to the polls are being targeted. Georgia recently accused the ride-share company Lyft of violating the law after it offered discounted rides for voters going to the polls.
Cracking down on rides to the polls lands hardest on those who rely on such transportation to exercise their rights — including voters with disabilities who cannot drive and lack accessible public transit.
“Election reforms that support people with disabilities benefit all voters — it’s the curb cut effect,” Ziegra added. “For example, absentee voting not only benefits disabled voters who can’t vote in-person, but also benefits voters who have to work or care for a loved one on Election Day. Our elections are stronger when everyone participates.”