Disabled voters win in Wisconsin; legal fights elsewhere
Source: Associated Press
Disabled voters win in Wisconsin; legal fights elsewhere
By HARM VENHUIZEN
September 14, 2022
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Trudy Le Beau has voted in every major election since she turned 18 — a half-century of civic participation that has gotten increasingly difficult as her multiple sclerosis progressed. Now, with no use of her arms or legs, the Wisconsin woman relies on her husband to help her fill out and return a ballot.
This year, it seemed for the first time that the 68-year-old would have to choose between her physical health and voting.
After the Wisconsin Supreme Court outlawed ballot drop boxes in July, the state’s top election official cited a state law that said voters had to place their own absentee ballots in the mail or return them to clerks in person.
“I certainly don’t want to send my husband to jail because he put my ballot in the mailbox,” Le Beau said. “I would have to find some way of putting my ballot in my teeth and carrying it to the clerk’s office.”
Fortunately for Le Beau, she and other Wisconsin voters with disabilities can get the help they need to return their ballots this November after a federal judge last month ruled that the Voting Rights Act, which allows for voter assistance, trumps state law.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-2022-midterm-elections-health-wisconsin-a79631b735e5a96276f08b2f6ac686b2
Martha Chambers pose in her apartment Friday, Sept. 2, 2022, in Milwaukee. Wisconsin voters with disabilities are celebrating a win after a federal judge, citing the Voting Rights Act, ruled that they may get assistance returning their ballots. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
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