Disability Voting News: May 6, 2026
Welcome to the Accessible Voting Booth! Read on for this week’s disability voting rights news. This is going to be a bit of a short one this week, as I have been swamped with work.
SCOTUS Guts the Voting Rights Act
Obviously, the biggest news of the past two weeks has been the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. I covered the impact of this case in detail in the October 22 issue of The Accessible Voting Booth, so if you need background, head over to that for more information. For a more abbreviated version, here’s what SCOTUSBlog had to say:
“The Supreme Court on Wednesday, in the case of Louisiana v. Callais, struck down a Louisiana congressional map that a group of voters who describe themselves as “non-African American” had challenged as the product of unconstitutional racial gerrymandering. By a vote of 6-3, the justices left in place a ruling by a federal court that barred the state from using the map, which had created a second majority-Black district, in future elections. Although Wednesday’s ruling did not strike down a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act, as Louisiana and the challengers had asked the court to do, Justice Elena Kagan suggested in her dissent (which was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson) that the majority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito had rendered the provision “all but a dead letter.”
Civil rights and disability rights groups share Justice Kagan’s opinion, arguing that the decision severely weakens Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices or procedures that “result in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” Here are some of those reactions:
Damon T. Hewitt, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:
“Black Americans have never been fully represented in the electoral process. This ruling makes it less likely that we ever will. The impact of this ruling cannot be understated. The consequences will be seen both immediately and far into the future.”
“For decades, we used Section 2 as a means of defense because it served as a powerful mechanism to address discrimination against Black voters and other voters of color, while providing opportunity to build the kind of electoral power and political power we have long been denied. But, today, the Supreme Court has gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.”
New Disabled South, via Instagram:
“This decision will hit the South the hardest because many Southern states have large Black populations and a long history of unfair voting maps. The Voting Rights Act has been one of the main ways to challenge those maps. Now it will be harder to stop them. Black and brown disabled voters will face even more challenges and barriers to voting. Many disabled people already have to travel long distances to vote, especially in rural areas. Polling places are often not fully accessible, and accessible voting machines are limited or broken. This decision will lead to less representation in voting. This is unacceptable.”
Read the full statement from New Disabled South
REV UP Louisiana Organizer Justina Plowden, via American Association of People with Disabilities:
“When the Voting Rights Act is weakened, it is not an abstract policy shift. It is a direct hit to Black voters, Brown voters, disabled voters, rural voters, and every community that has fought for generations just to be seen, counted, and heard.”
Read the full post from AAPD on Instagram.
This decision has devastating consequences for our nation, particularly for voters of color who have faced centuries of oppression through disenfranchisement followed by unfair voting maps and voter suppression.
Connecticut House passes bill expanding access to mail voting and protecting against federal election interference. (via The Markup).
In April, the Connecticut House passed a bill that would establish no-excuse mail-in voting and create a permanent mail ballot list that would be available to all voters. Under current law, permanent mail voting is only available to voters with a permanent physical disability or long-term illness certified by a medical provider.
This legislation is a critical step towards removing barriers for voters when it comes to voting by mail. Currently, voters are allowed to vote by absentee ballot in Connecticut if they’re out of town on Election Day, serving in the military, serving as a poll worker, or because of “sickness or physical disability” (including sickness or physical disability of a family member).” The way this is currently written means that many voters with disabilities may not feel or be “qualified” to vote by mail, if they feel that their identity doesn’t fall under the definition of “sickness” or “physical disability.” No-excuse absentee voting eliminates this barrier by permitting any registered voter to vote by mail without a qualifying reason, meaning that the process becomes more accessible, expanding voting options for all voters.
Hopefully Connecticut will pass this legislation and improve access to absentee voting!
For Texans with disabilities, voting can take weeks — or be out of reach (via Texas Public Radio).
In April, Texas Public Radio spoke with several voters with disabilities in Texas about the barriers they face to voting. The piece highlighted a number of systemic barriers that disabled Texans face in exercising their right to vote, from poor access to transportation to gaps in home care that deny access to the supports disabled Texans need to navigate daily life, including civic participation. These issues are compounded by voting access restrictions in Texas, such as the requirement to reapply annually for mail-in ballots. Read the full piece from Texas Public Radio.
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