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 the new voting laws.  The program also provides technical assistance to community-based organizations and agencies that work with voters with disabilities. CIDNY's PAVA program serves people in all five boroughs of New York City, and in Putnam, Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties.

For to learn more about the PAVA project, including information on accessible voting machines and the results of our poll site accessibility surveys, please go to the links, or email mbartly@cidny.org or call 646-442-4146.

A brief overview of the THE HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT (HAVA) and its special provisions for voters with disabilities
In 2002, the federal government passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in part as a reaction to the voting irregularities in the 2000 presidential election.  HAVA joins other federal legislation that prohibits discrimination against any eligible voter in the United States.  The law provided money to the states to replace their old voting system with modern machines that better met higher security standards and to provide access to voters with disabilities.

 

Noteworthy Updates

Elected Officials Raise Awareness of the Ballot Marking Device
Read City Council Member Dan Halloran's press release about the BMD.
View NYS Senator Shirley L. Huntley's brochure featuring the BMD.
Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh put the BMD in his October newsletter.

CIDNY assisted with the implementation of the 2010 Poll Site Access law, which requires all New York State poll sites to be accessible by June 15, 2011. CIDNY and the Catskill Center for Independence (our upstate PAVA partner) worked together to revise the State Board of Elections’ manual, “General Guidelines on Poll Worker Training and Voter Education,” and wrote a new “Non-Technical Guide Describing Standards for Poll Site Accessibility,” which was distributed to county boards of elections throughout the state.  CIDNY and the Catskill Center for Independence also provided trainings to county boards of elections on how to properly survey sites for accessibility. During May through July, CIDNY trained election officials from New York City, Putnam, Dutchess, Sullivan, Suffolk and Westchester counties.

The Council of the City of New York endorsed CIDNY's recommendations to improve poll site accessibility for voters with disabilities in this press release from September 2010.

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 in 2009 but signed into law in 2010.

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.

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

 


Council Member Dan Garodnick's 2009 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.