Albany, NY – October 11, 2018
– Disability Rights New York (DRNY) issued a new report today highlighting Rensselaer County's violations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA guarantees voters with disabilities the right to fully accessible polling places.
DRNY surveyed eight (8) polling sites in Rensselaer County during the June 26, 2018 federal primaries. Seven (7) of the eight (8) sites surveyed were found to have at least two (2) significant accessibility barriers.
Throughout the county, DRNY found a variety of access barriers. These barriers include i
naccessible parking
, inaccessible entrance and internal path of travel, inaccessible voting areas and inaccessible ballot marking devices (BMDs).
The June 2018 federal primary marks the fifth (5th) straight election that barriers have been found that prevent voters from voting in Rensselaer County.
DRNY is the designated independent non-profit Protection & Advocacy System empowered by Congress to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect and provide legal and non-legal advocacy services to people with disabilities in New York State. The Protection & Advocacy System was created by Congress as a direct result of the horrific conditions that were uncovered in the 1970's at New York’s Willowbrook State School.
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