The Community That May Be Hurt Most by Republican Voter Restrictions: Americans With Disabilities

The Community That May Be Hurt Most by Republican Voter Restrictions: Americans With Disabilities

The Community That May Be Hurt Most by Republican Voter Restrictions: Americans With Disabilities

Bills making it harder for them to vote from home are an affront to their civil rights.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

The fallout from former president Donald Trump’s Big Lie about voter fraud in the 2020 election continues to mount. Republican state lawmakers have introduced an onslaught of bills limiting voting access, which do next to nothing to increase “election integrity” but make it harder for all Americans to vote.

These efforts are a particularly severe threat to communities for whom voting can already be difficult. In fact, preventing people from being able to vote from home is a direct attack on the civil rights of people with disabilities.

The expansion of mail-in voting in 2020 made it significantly easier for Americans with disabilities to engage in the electoral process. Turnout among these voters increased by six percentage points between 2016 and 2020, amounting to 1.7 million more voters. Last year, only 11 percent of voters with disabilities reported having trouble voting, a number that remains too high but is a significant improvement from the 26 percent who faced voting issues in 2012.

Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

Thank you for reading The Nation!

We hope you enjoyed the story you just read. It’s just one of many examples of incisive, deeply-reported journalism we publish—journalism that shifts the needle on important issues, uncovers malfeasance and corruption, and uplifts voices and perspectives that often go unheard in mainstream media. For nearly 160 years, The Nation has spoken truth to power and shone a light on issues that would otherwise be swept under the rug.

In a critical election year as well as a time of media austerity, independent journalism needs your continued support. The best way to do this is with a recurring donation. This month, we are asking readers like you who value truth and democracy to step up and support The Nation with a monthly contribution. We call these monthly donors Sustainers, a small but mighty group of supporters who ensure our team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers have the resources they need to report on breaking news, investigative feature stories that often take weeks or months to report, and much more.

There’s a lot to talk about in the coming months, from the presidential election and Supreme Court battles to the fight for bodily autonomy. We’ll cover all these issues and more, but this is only made possible with support from sustaining donors. Donate today—any amount you can spare each month is appreciated, even just the price of a cup of coffee.

The Nation does not bow to the interests of a corporate owner or advertisers—we answer only to readers like you who make our work possible. Set up a recurring donation today and ensure we can continue to hold the powerful accountable.

Thank you for your generosity.

Ad Policy
x