Survey Results on Polling Place Accessibility in the 2012 Elections
Presentation to NIST/EAC Accessible Voting workshop, April 1, 2013

Lisa Schur, Rutgers University
Douglas Kruse, Rutgers University
Meera Adya, Syracuse University

Voter turnout is generally low among people with disabilities
•	Disability turnout gap of 4-21 percentage points in 10 surveys over 1992-2004
•	Disability turnout gap of 12 percentage points in 2008 and 2010, when comparing people of same age, sex, and race
•	Lower turnout is only partly explained by standard voting predictors:  resources (education and income), recruitment, and feelings of political efficacy
=> Inaccessible polling places may play a role, both by making voting more difficult and possibly sending the message that people with disabilities are not welcome in the political sphere
2012 post-election survey	
EAC provided funds through Research Alliance for Accessible Voting (RAAV) for a nationally representative household survey on voting experiences following 2012 elections

•	Total sample of 3,022, stratified to oversample people with disabilities so there are:
	2,000 people with disabilities
	1,022 people without disabilities
•	Survey was conducted by professional survey firm, Survey Technology and Research
•	Voting questions based on U.S. Census, with added questions on voting difficulties
•	Reported experiences by voters complement the GAO reports on potential barriers in polling places

Disability measure was based on Census Bureau questions
					# in sample
   Any disability			2000
   Hearing impairment	  	  501
   Visual impairment		  	  410
   Cognitive impairment		  742
   Mobility impairment		1347
	Wheelchair users		  289
	Cane, crutches, or walker	  857
   Difficulty inside home		  486
   Difficulty going outside alone	  893
   Limited in major life activities	1590
Reported difficulties among those voting at polling place in 2012
					            Disability    No disability
•	Finding or getting to polling place		6%		2%
•	Getting inside polling place (e.g., steps)	4%		0%
•	Waiting in line				8%		4%

•	Reading or seeing ballot			12%		1%
•	Understanding how to vote or use voting eqt.  10%		1%
•	Communicating with election officials	2%		1%

•	Writing on the ballot			5%		0%
•	Operating the voting machine		1%		1%
•	Other type of difficulty			4%		1%
Any of above					30%		8%
Examples of polling place difficulties from verbatim descriptions
Finding or getting to polling place:  hard to get a ride, polling place not well marked, polling place moved

Getting inside polling place:  steps, walking distance

Operating voting machine: hard to pull handle, hard to see, machine too high, machine malfunctioned, didn’t know how to operate
Polling place difficulties by type of disability
Any type of voting difficulty in 2012
among those with
   Hearing impairment			27%
   Visual impairment		  	44%
   Cognitive impairment		  	43%
   Mobility impairment		  	31%
	Wheelchair users			41%
	Cane, crutches, or walker		28%
   Difficulty inside home		  	49%
   Difficulty going outside alone	  	43%
   Limitation in major life activities	  	34%

=> Difficulties were highest among those with visual, cognitive impairments, and difficulty with activities inside home

Need for assistance at polling place
					Disability 	No disability
Needed any assistance if voted at
	polling place in 2012		30%		11%
   If yes, who provided assistance
	Election officials		42%		72%
	Family member			42%		19%
	Friend				9%		2%
	Home care aide			1%		0%
	Other				4%		5%
	Needed but none provided	3%		2%
Use of extra features or devices to vote in 2012
If have disability, used extra features or devices		7%
If yes:
     What features or devices
	Large display						58%
	Magnifier or visual aid				33%
	Earphones						10%
	Seating/lowered machine				2%
	Other (special keypad, automark)			1%
       Features or devices were set up and ready to use	75%
       Election officials knew how to set up and use
	features or devices					97%
Treatment by election officials
					Disability	No disability
Election officials were:
	Very respectful		86%		85%
	Somewhat respectful		8%		7%
	Neither respectful nor	
	  disrespectful			3%		5%
	Somewhat or very 
   	  disrespectful			3%		3%

=> No difference by disability status

Overall ease or difficulty of voting at polling place
					Disability	No disability
Very easy				75%		87%
Somewhat easy			18%		11%
Neither easy nor difficult		1%		1%
Somewhat difficult			3%		1%
Very difficult				3%		1%

=> Most people with disabilities report voting was easy, but 6% report it was difficult (higher than among people without disabilities)
Voting by mail
					Disability	No disability
If voted in 2012, cast vote by mail	24%		16%

If voted by mail:
     Any difficulty in reading or 
	filling out mail-in ballot	13%		2%
     Needed assistance in 
	completing mail-in ballot	11%		0%

If did not vote at polling place in 2012, but did so sometime in past 10 years

•	Any type of difficulty in voting at polling place among those with
		Disability		29%
		No disability		10%
•	Pattern of difficulties very similar to those for 2012 voters

If did not vote at polling place in past 10 years, would expect to have difficulties in voting
					          Disability    No disability
•	Finding polling place			2%		0%
•	Getting to polling place			13%		0%
•	Getting inside polling place (e.g., steps)	7%		0%
•	Waiting in line				3%		0%

•	Reading or seeing ballot			6%		0%
•	Understanding how to vote or use voting eqt.  10%		0%
•	Other difficulty recording vote		4%		1%

•	Any other problem				10%		0%
Any of above					40%		1%
Preference for how to vote
Asked of all respondents (voters and non-voters)

If you wanted to vote in the next 	      Disability   No disability
election, how would you prefer 
to cast your vote?
	In person at polling place		58%	68%
	By mail					25%	14%
	On the Internet				10%	16%
	By telephone				  5%	  2%
	Don’t know				  2%	  1%

=> People with disabilities are less likely to prefer voting at polling place, but still a majority want to do so
Summary of key points
•	Almost one-third (30%) of voters with disabilities reported difficulty in voting at a polling place in 2012, compared to 8% of voters without disabilities
•	Most common problems were reading or seeing ballot, or understanding how to vote or use voting eqt.
•	Almost one-third of voters with disabilities required assistance in voting, most commonly given by election officials or family members
•	Only 7% of voters with disabilities used extra features or devices in voting, most commonly large displays or magnifiers

Summary of key points (cont.)
•	People with disabilities were just as likely as those without disabilities to perceive respectful treatment from election officials
•	While three-fourths of voters with disabilities said it was very easy to vote at a polling place, this is lower than for voters without disabilities, and 6% of voters with disabilities said it was somewhat or very difficult to vote
•	Most people with disabilities prefer voting at a polling place

These are just initial results—more analysis to be done.  Ideas and feedback are welcome!