DISABLED BALLOT PROPOSAL


Disabled say 'aye' to absentee ballot proposal


People with physical disabilities can find voting a trying
experience because getting to the polls is not always an easy
job. But that may change soon. 

Because of the efforts of Sandra Shanley, a resident of Anoka,
physically impaired and permanently ill people may be placed on a
list to automatically receive absentee ballot applications before
each election.

That would eliminate having to apply for an absentee ballot at
least two weeks before every election -- a process Shanley
described as a "stumbling block" to voting because it's difficult
to keep up with all the local elections for school board and
mayor.

Shanley has Multiple Sclerosis (MS), which restricts her ability
to walk. She gets around with a walker or a cane, but on longer
outings to a museum or polling place she uses a wheelchair. 

"I only have so many steps in a day," she says, adding that it's
hard for her to stand in line for a long time.

But she is also very politically active. She's a member of the
League of Women Voters and believes in the importance of
participation.

"It's very important to be heard," she says.

A few years ago she went to California to visit her family and
learned that that state has an automatic absentee ballot
application system for the permanently ill and disabled. She
thought it was a good idea and told local officials about it
three years ago. Shanley also contacted Rep. Linda Scheid
(DFL-Brooklyn Park), who chairs a House division that oversees
election laws. Scheid passed the idea along to Rep. Richard
Jefferson (DFL-Mpls) whom she felt might be interested in such a
proposal.

Jefferson agreed and translated Shanley's idea into a bill, which
since has been rolled into one of Scheid's omnibus elections
bills, which the House approved during the 1990 session.

"If you are not handicapped and are fully capable of walking to
the polls, you have to do nothing in order to vote once you
register. You merely have to go," says Jefferson. "I think the
present system places an undue burden on people who are not able
to go to the polls on a regular basis, and that an automatic
application form is a very small move to grant them equal rights
to the opportunity to vote as other people." 

Jackie Alfonso, executive director of the United Handicapped
Federation, says her organization supports the bill because equal
access to the electoral process should be available to everyone. 

Providing absentee ballots to the disabled isn't glamorous, and
"isn't likely to attract national attention or the national
press," but it is important nevertheless, she says.

The measure affects a small number of Minnesota voters.
Typically, only about 100,000 people vote by absentee ballot
during a general election. Only a small portion of those people
would be eligible for a permanent absentee ballot application
because only people with permanent illnesses or disabilities
would qualify.

Shanley says county auditors already maintain lists of absentee
voters, and the local and state officials she's approached have
been very responsive. She says she has also received assistance
from the League of Women Voters, the MS Society, the United
Handicapped Federation, and other groups.

Last year, Jefferson authored a bill to provide sign language
interpreters, Braille translation materials, and
handicapped-accessible buildings for people attending political
gatherings. That bill, and this bill from Shanley's idea, will
help those people who most often need to reach political and
government officials.



Originally printed in 1990 in Session Weekly, a weekly
newsmagazine published by the Minnesota House Public Information
Office.

***Last Update 8/5/94 (jtt) Last Review 8/5/94 (jtt) ***