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Another Atrocity–Voting Rights Denied For Disabled: Blind People At Mercy Of Poll Workers
While a host of election reform task forces and commissions from the public and private sector have offered recommendations for improving the way the U.S. votes, none have called for a federally-mandated right for access to polls and the opportunity to cast a ballot independently and privately.
For Carla Ruschival, voting is more an act of faith than an exercise in democracy.
Blind since birth, she relies on poll workers to read and fill out ballots for her at a precinct in Louisville, Ky.
Sometimes that means voting out in the open. Other times, she endures the subtle partisan comments of poll workers verifying her vote, including, “Are you sure?” and “You really want to vote for him?” Not being able to see her paper ballot, she said the odds are always against her. If a vote is accurate, it’s public. If it’s private, it could be altered by the political whims of her helper.
“In 37 years, I have never cast an independent, secret ballot,” she said READMOREHERE
