Grants in Action: Helping New Yorkers with Disabilities Vote

One in five New Yorkers has a disability, yet political candidates rarely talk about accessibility or other issues facing these residents. This is due in part to the barriers that New Yorkers with disabilities contend with when it comes to voting and civic engagement.

Through a grant to the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, all five of the city's borough-based independent living centers are working together to make polling places more accessible for people with disabilities. They are surveying polling places to check for ramps and other accommodations.

We'll release a report with this information and meet with the city's Board of Elections to push for improvements. They are also working to get out the vote among the city's residents with disabilities and are advocating for a more accessible voter registration process. They are also advocating to make pandemic-related accommodations, like mail-in voting, permanent to ensure those who have difficulty getting to a physical voting booth can still be counted.