Disability Voting News: July 30, 2025

Welcome to the last Accessible Voting Booth for July 2025. It feels good to say that July is ending–it’s been a miserably hot month, and equally as miserable in terms of voting and disability policy news. I hope all my readers are managing to stay safe and cool, and finding ways to decompress as we continue to fight every day for our rights. 

I realize I haven’t shared an image of Oliver for awhile, so to lighten up this newsletter, here he is:

Eighth Circuit rules voters can’t sue for disability-based violations of the Voting Rights Act (via Mother Jones).

On Monday, the conservative Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that only the government can bring lawsuits alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act's provisions on assistance for voters with disabilities. Their decision states that no private right of action exists for voters who have experienced discrimination. Mother Jones journalist Julia Métraux reports:

“Only state attorneys general themselves, the court’s ruling holds, can act to enforce the Voting Rights Act and prevent violations—not, in the case of states with notoriously poor voting rights records, very likely. Within the Eighth Circuit’s jurisdiction, state governments in Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, and Iowa have all enacted party-line voter suppression laws in recent years—governments that voters facing VRA discrimination would now have to rely on for enforcement.”

This case centered around a lawsuit filed by Arkansas United challenging a state law which limits how many individuals a non-election official can assist with voting to six people. Violation of this law is a misdemeanor, and poll workers are also required to track the names and addresses of all people who assist voters at a polling place. 

Because of this ruling, citizens and organizations in seven states (Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) now no longer have the right to sue under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act, the section of the law that specifically pertains to voting assistance for people with disabilities:

“Any voter who requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write may be given assistance by a person of the voter’s choice, other than the voter’s employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of the voter’s union.”

The case has now been sent back to the district court for further action, and Métraux reports that while an appeal by Arkansas United is possible, it would mean subjecting Section 208 to the conservative Roberts Court, which has a track record of undermining voting rights. I encourage you to read Julia Métraux’s full reporting on the context and implications of this case.

“ACLU: Accessible voting is under attack 35 years after the ADA.” (via ACLU).

In commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Election Protection Organizer Shayla A. Mitchell shared how the ACLU of Alabama is fighting for the voting rights of people with disabilities and addressing three major threats to voting rights in Alabama. These threats include Alabama’s SB1, which criminalizes assistance with absentee voting applications; the ongoing inaccessibility of polling places; and nationwide threats to voting rights, from federal legislation like the SAVE Act to state-level voter suppression legislation.

Mitchell concludes:

“These threats underscore why the ADA’s 35th anniversary is more than ceremonial. In Alabama and across the Deep South, we’ve seen how local attacks on disability access become the national precedent. Safe, fair, and accessible elections aren’t a privilege. They're a right protected by the ADA. For 35 years, this law has been a lifeline. Our job now is to ensure it stays that way for the next 35 years and beyond.”

Head over to the ACLU of Alabama’s site to read her full piece. 

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