The voting rights of close to 40 million people with disabilities are in jeopardy. The danger is posed by three passed and proposed laws that restrict rights rather than protect them. While refraining from making partisan political points, this post digs into how the following registration and mail-in ballot provisions threaten the right of people with disabilities to participate in democracy:
(1) Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act or the SAVE America Act—H.R.7296 passed the House of Representatives on February 11, 2026; S. 1383 proposed in the United States Senate;
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(2) Florida SAVE Act, HB 991, signed April 1, 2026 and mostly effective on January 1, 2027; and
(3) Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections, Executive Order of the United States President, signed March 31, 2026.
Although the stated purpose of these election laws is to end illegal voting by noncitizens in federal elections, key provisions will also disenfranchise voters with disabilities. This is unacceptable and must be challenged!
Disabled people already face multiple voting barriers, such as inaccessible polling locations, lack of assistance, and voting machines that are difficult to use. So it should be no surprise that we consistently vote at lower rates than nondisabled people. In the words of disability activist, Andrew Pulrang, “Anything that makes voting a more complex and multi-step process makes it less likely that disabled people will vote.” If implemented, these new laws will further erode access for people with disabilities.
Registration Restrictions
The laws complicate the voter registration process by adding steps that make it harder to navigate for people who have vision loss, limited mobility, chronic health needs, limited transportation, or any other needs for assistance, to name a few. The primary culprit is the new documentation and verification rules that demand evidence of U.S. citizenship.
The United States and Florida SAVE laws both list the documents that can be used as proof of citizenship:
- a U.S. birth certificate.
- an official military ID and record of service showing a U.S. place of birth.
- U.S. citizenship shown on certain driver licenses or identification cards or federal or state photo IDs.
- a valid U.S. passport.
- a naturalization certificate.
- a consular report of birth abroad.
- a federal court order granting citizenship.
- an American Indian card issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
This array of options sounds very reasonable, until you realize that many people with disabilities don’t have easy access to their updated driver’s licenses, state ID cards, birth certificates, or passports. And the predicament is compounded by the SAVE America Act mandate that original documents must be shown in person at a voter registration site, thus eliminating voter registration via mail and disallowing a proxy to register on behalf of a voter. Furthermore, research from the Brennan Center for Justice indicates that almost four million people don’t have these documents at all due to loss, destruction, or theft. The Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland adds that 20 percent of people who identify as disabled don’t even have a license.
For some, the nail in the coffin will come with the requirement that official legal name-change documentation must also be presented if a person’s current legal name is different from the name on the citizenship document and does not match official government records. Frequent life events like marriage, divorce, and adoption typically involve a name-change and trigger the need for additional documents. This is especially difficult for people with disabilities who are hampered by unaffordable fees; difficulty printing, signing, or mailing documents; or reliance on others for help with transportation and filling forms. Many will have trouble tracking down multiple original documents in time to meet a state registration cut-off date.
Voting by Mail
Voting by mail is very popular as shown in the 2024 general election when nearly a third of all voters cast mail-in ballots. For many, this is way more than a mere convenience. According to the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), voting by mail is the only way countless voters with disabilities can participate in elections. AAPD elaborates with the following examples:
- A wheelchair user in a rural area may not be able to secure accessible transportation to the polls.
- Crowded polling places may be unsafe and inaccessible to voters who are immunocompromised.
- A voter with an intellectual disability may prefer to vote from home in order to spend more time reading and understanding the ballot.
- People experiencing long-term hospital stays or living in nursing homes may be unable to leave their beds.”
Thankfully, the Florida SAVE Act does not mess with the mail-in ballot option. Not so the SAVE America Act and the President’s Executive Order.
The SAVE America Act requires voters seeking to vote by mail to submit documentary proof of U.S. citizenship in person to the appropriate election official. It also authorizes states to remove noncitizens from their official lists of eligible voters.
The Executive Order reflects the President’s belief that mail-in ballots are associated with fraud and his August 2025 announcement that he was going to lead a movement to get rid of them. Although the Order stops short of eliminating mail-in ballots, it changes how states will determine who is eligible to vote by mail. The Order calls for the compilation of three different citizenship lists which have been widely criticized for including inaccurate and outdated information. The U.S. Postal Service is then tasked with refusing delivery of ballots cast by anyone not on one of these lists.
The timing of directives in the Order has also been critiqued. According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the following timeline issues are problematic:
- The requirement that states submit lists of eligible mail-in voters to the USPS 60 days before an election conflicts with state and federal registration and mail ballot application deadlines.
- It’s too late for most jurisdictions to comply with directions to change their mail-in ballot envelope design before mid-term elections.
- The USPS rulemaking timeline is too short given its’ scope and insufficient time for election administrators to implement changes before upcoming elections.
Speak Up to Protect Disability Voting
- Don’t count on the federal SAVE America Act staying stuck in the Senate by a filibuster. Contact your state Senator in Congress and lobby for amendments to S. 1383 that cure the impediments to disability voting.
- The Florida SAVE Act is effective on January 1, 2027. Let’s use the next six months to lobby State representatives in Tallahassee and home districts to amend the law.
- For both the SAVE America and Florida SAVE Acts seek amendments that remove the in person production of documents requirement and add reasonable accommodations or alternative methods for those disabled who need help gathering proof of citizenship or name-change documents.
- Support the efforts of election experts and legal challengers who say the Executive Order is unconstitutional. Know that only the states and Congress have constitutional authority to change rules for federal elections.
You may also want to read:
- Angela Muir Van Etten. “Register to Vote.” September 16, 2024. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/category/disability-rights/
- Angela Muir Van Etten. “Register To Vote, Then Vote And Make It Count.” September 21, 2020. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/register-to-vote-then-vote-and-make-it-count/
- Angela Muir Van Etten. “ALWAYS AN ADVOCATE: Champions of Change for People with Dwarfism and Disabilities.” 2021. https://angelamuirvanetten.com/always-an-advocate/
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