CIDNY is the downstate contractor for the Protection and Advocacy for Voter Access (PAVA) program, run by the NYS Commission on Quality of Care's Advocacy Services Bureau. As a PAVA agency, CIDNY helps voters with disabilities register to vote, access polling places, learn more about their rights as voters, and understand new voting laws. The program also provides technical assistance to community-based organizations that work with voters with disabilities. CIDNY's PAVA program serves people in all five boroughs of New York City, Putnam, Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties. To learn more about PAVA project and CIDNY, please click the following links or call 212/674-2300, ext. 112
For information on CIDNY's poll site accessibility project, including information on accessible voting machines and the results of our poll site accessibility surveys, please contact rmccoy@cidny.org.
A brief overview of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and its special provisions for voters with disabilities Word PDF
New and Noteworthy
CIDNY HAVA Update - Click here
The latest news on the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) compliance in New York and the progress of accessible voting options for people with disabilities.
A lawsuit filed July 26th, on the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, seeks an end to New York’s systemic failure to provide access to polling sites for disabled voters. Read the press release.
Read CIDNY's letter urging Governor Paterson to sign the Poll Site Access Bill he vetoed last year.
In this letter, nine good government groups and disability organizations encourage the NYCBOE to conduct an effective, widespread public education campaign.
The Board of Elections in the City of New York is engaged in a search for a new Executive Director. Read the February 16, 2010 letter from twelve organizations, including CIDNY, urging the Commissioners to use certain criteria in the selection process.
Public Advocate Bill De Blasio presented a Voter Information Plan (VIP) on January 5, 2009 for the NYC BOE to adopt as it prepares the public for new voting procedures.
CIDNY's December 2009 letter to Governor Paterson about Poll Site Access legislation.
Governor Paterson vetoed two bills on September 16, 2009 designed to strengthen protections for people with disabilities. The Poll Site Accessibility Bill and Title II Bill would have required state law to conform to existing federal requirements under ADA and HAVA. Read press releases denouncing Paterson’s actions from New York Association on Independent Living and Project HAVA, Catskill Center for Independence. Read CIDNY’s letter to the editor in the Albany Times Union on this issue.
New York Association of Indepent Living Election Reform Committee letter to the HAVA Task Force - Click here
Council Member Dan Garodnick's request for performance statistics from the NYC Board of Elections and the NYC Board of Elections' response.
2008 Nassau County Poll Site Accessibility Report - Click here
Long Island Center for Independent Living (LICIL) consumers and staff surveyed polling sites during the 2008 General Election as "part of an ongoing initiative to improve overall voter accessibility for Nassau County residents with disabilities."
Joint PAVA Partner Letter to Secretary of State - Click here
Governor Paterson asked Secretary of State Lorraine A. Cortés-Vázquez to produce a report with recommendations on moderning voting and removing barriers to participation in New York. Our upstate PAVA partner, the Catskill Center for Independence (CCFI), and CIDNY wrote this joint letter urging that the report address issues faced by voters with disabilities.
HAVA lawsuit against New York State
Transcript of court proceeding concerning HAVA compliance in New York - State Board of Elections and Department of Justice before Judge Sharpe, December 20, 2007 – click here.
Department of Justice Memorandum in Response to HAVA Lawsuit Against New York State - Click here.
Poll Site Accessibility
Since 2003, CIDNY has surveyed the accessibility of poll sites in New York City during primaries and elections to make sure that people with disabilities can get in the door and vote without barriers. A voter with a disability has a right to an accessible voting machine located in an accessible poll site. To learn more about this work, please click here.
