To amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require States to promote access to voter registration and voting for individuals with disabilities, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill, the Disability Voting Rights Act, requires every state to establish procedures that ensure individuals with disabilities can register to vote and cast absentee ballots in federal elections through both mail and electronic means. It mandates that states designate a single office to provide voting information for disabled voters and transmit absentee ballots at least 45 days before elections. The bill also reauthorizes and expands an existing grant program to make polling places and absentee voting systems accessible.
Who Benefits and How
Individuals with disabilities that substantially limit major life activities would gain guaranteed access to absentee voter registration and balloting procedures in all federal elections. States would receive ongoing federal funding to make polling places physically accessible, implement accessible absentee voting systems compatible with assistive technology, and develop universally designed voting solutions. The bill explicitly prohibits voting via the internet while ensuring electronic transmission of blank ballots and applications.
Who Bears the Burden and How
State election officials would bear significant new administrative obligations, including establishing electronic communication systems, processing absentee ballots for disabled voters, designating single information offices, and tracking ballot delivery. States that cannot meet the 45-day ballot transmission deadline may seek hardship waivers from the Attorney General. The federal government would fund the grant program through open-ended annual appropriations starting in fiscal year 2025.
Key Provisions
- Requires states to permit absentee registration and voting for individuals with disabilities in federal elections
- Mandates electronic and mail options for requesting and receiving voter registration and absentee ballot applications
- Requires 45-day advance transmission of absentee ballots, with a hardship waiver process through the Attorney General
- Designates a single state office for disability voting information
- Reauthorizes grant funding for accessible polling places and absentee voting systems
- Establishes a 4-year use-it-or-lose-it requirement for grant funds with reallocation to compliant states
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require states to establish comprehensive procedures ensuring individuals with disabilities can register to vote and cast absentee ballots in federal elections, and reauthorizes and expands grant funding for accessible voting.
Key Policy Areas
Voting Rights, Disability Rights, Election Administration
Primary Purpose
Amends the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to require states to establish comprehensive procedures ensuring individuals with disabilities can register to vote and cast absentee ballots in federal elections, and reauthorizes and expands grant funding for accessible voting.
Policy Domains
Whole Bill
Identified Gains
- Individuals with disabilities who vote in federal elections
- Blind and visually impaired voters
- Voters with mobility or dexterity impairments
Identified Costs
- State and local election officials
- Federal taxpayers funding the grant program
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMs. Scanlon introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
State election officials, State election officials and agencies, States and local governments implementing accessible voting
Positive-direction: States and local governments implementing accessible voting
Negative-direction: State election officials, State election officials and agencies
Individuals with disabilities, Individuals with disabilities seeking to vote
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "Attorney General"
- → Reviews hardship waiver requests for ballot transmission deadlines
- "State election officials"
- → Implement accessible voting procedures for individuals with disabilities
- "Election Assistance Commission"
- → Issues voluntary guidance and manages grant fund reallocations
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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