In 1965, President Johnson attempted to persuade Congress to pass his Voting Rights Act (the Civil Rights Act had been passed the previous year). This proposed legislation removed the right of states to impose restrictions on who could vote in elections. Johnson stated: "Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote."

Although opposed by politicians from the Deep South, the Voting Rights Act was passed by large majorities in the House of Representatives (333 to 48) and the Senate (77 to 19). The legislation empowered the national government to register those whom the states refused to put on the voting list. The Act was unanimously reauthorized on July 27, 2006, extending the provisions for another 25 years.

LaShawn Warren, ACLU Legislative Counsel for Civil Rights stated, "Unfortunately, equal voting rights still do not exist in many parts of the country." People with disabilities know this all too well. In 2001, a General Accounting Office report on access to polling places by voters with disabilities showed that:

• 84 percent of polling places limit access to people with disabilities
• In many counties, accessibility is not even a criteria for selecting polling sites -- despite at least 3 federal laws mandating access to the polls for voters with disabilities.

In response to the outrage over the lack of access, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 included language that mandated that polling places become accessible and that new voting technology be purchased to ensure access for those previously denied the right to vote in private. People not physically able to hold or maneuver a pen, pencil or hole puncher to vote or who could not see the ballot have had to verbalize their vote to an attendant, poll worker or family member. To these citizens, a private ballot has been a foreign concept.

According to officials at United Cerebral Palsy, more than 45 million people with disabilities in the United States are eligible to vote. Yet many often are discouraged from voting because of problems with accessibility, both in getting into a polling place and in using voting machines, they said. In 2000, for example, more than 20 million eligible voters with disabilities failed to cast a ballot.

HAVA mandated all polling places nationwide to have at least one accessible voting machine in place by Jan 1, 2006. The move allows people with impaired mobility, vision or hearing to vote independently and privately by offering alternative ways to register votes, such as voice-activated voting and touch-screen pads. Communities were able to offset the costs through federal funding.

While the issue of electronic voting machines is controversial and far from resolved in many areas across the country, progress has been made. People with disabilities care about the security and integrity of the voting process as much as any other American. However, as one disability activist stated, "We want access too!"

In the years before the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts were passed, African-Americans and other minorities were routinely denied the right to vote for a variety of reasons that today we find appalling. As our country grows and moves into an age where all citizens are afforded equal rights and access to one of our most basic freedoms, it is important to remember that, while it may take time to adjust- this is a change for the better.

To find more information on the accessible voting, contact your local Center for Independent Living.