NEWS

Disabled or blind? Some tips on how to keep your vote in your control

Sierra Newton
Cincinnati Enquirer
Susan Koller, board member of Disability Rights Ohio posing with her pooch.

Susan Koller had to think a long time about how she was going to vote this year. Not necessarily for which candidates, but how she was going to cast her vote.

Koller has cerebral palsy. This year she worked to make sure she and those she lives with can vote from their Beechwood care facility. With the help of the Ohio Board of Elections, Koller was able to push for staff members of her facility to become trained voting aides.

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This is important because Koller knows that, in the past, most people with disabilities, including those who are blind, have had to vote on their own or have family members help them with absentee ballots. And that can be problematic because of the fear of undue influence.

“I don’t have control over many things in my life,” Koller said. “But voting is something I can choose and I can make a difference.”

Angela Dehart, Kenton County resident and member of the National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky.

Kentuckian Angela Dehart, who is legally blind, typically votes at her local polling station but has decided not to travel there this year because of the risk of COVID-19. She also has a young child at home.

Her work started early, too. Knowing that Kentucky had never used its accessible voting website before this election, Dehart took pains to research how it worked and then voted accordingly.

“A lot of having a disability is advocating for yourself, and not only your needs but your right to be able to access things just the same as everybody else,” Dehart said.

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