Making Voting More Accessible for Veterans with Disabilities

More than 40,000 American military personnel have been injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, and many of these Americans are undergoing lengthy recovery and rehabilitation treatments at hospitals far from home. Many barriers exist that may prevent these Americans from registering and voting in elections. Fortunately, if done right, technology can facilitate voting for these Americans and others who face barriers to participating in the electoral process. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) will open the discussion, followed by a presentation from ITIF, and its research partners, as we share the conclusions from a series of studies that investigated how to improve voting accessibility for disabled service members, ending with conculding remarks from Rep. Ron Barber (D-AZ). We will outline the scope of the problem and lay out a number of technical and policy recommendations to make voting more accessible for these servicemen and women who have been injured while serving their country.

This work has been supported by a grant from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC).