Did you know that a 2024 survey conducted by Rutgers University for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission found that 20% of disabled people find voting in person to be inaccessible? Advocates and lawmakers have been fighting to reduce this percentage by securing accommodations for the disabled community. One of the most successful accommodations is vote-by-mail, which, as shown in the survey, drops the number of people facing accessibility problems from 20% to 6%. Yet, in some political circles, we are seeing a call for mail-in voting to be cut, a threat that would disenfranchise millions of disabled people. We need to be aware of this threat so we can ensure the rights of ourselves, our neighbors, friends and family members with disabilities.

First, though, what is the threat? Recently, the president claimed that the Republican Party will do everything in its power to get rid of mail-in ballots because he sees the practice as fraudulent. “Mail-in ballots are corrupt. You can never have a real democracy with mail-in ballots,” he stated in a video from NBC News. He added, “Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can’t have an honest election with mail-in voting.” Trump agrees, despite the fact that the Russian president is notorious for dishonest elections of his own. Even so, Trump’s solution to the perceived issue of vote-by-mail is to sign an executive order that will cut mail-in ballots before the next mid-term election. But is this even legal?

Well, no. He cannot legally do this because it is states, not presidents, who set the rules for how elections are conducted, including how ballots are collected. It is true that Congress can override those rules, but the president has no such authority; his role is limited to enforcing laws that Congress passes. Beyond this, there are also federal protections, like the Americans with Disabilities Act. This act guarantees people with disabilities a “full and equal opportunity to vote” while ensuring their “independence” and “privacy.” The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984 echoes this, as it too requires states to provide alternatives when polling places are inaccessible to ensure equal voting. As seen in the intro to this piece, vote-by-mail answers both of these by giving disabled people a significantly more accessible way to vote independently, and because of this, these laws will also protect mail-in ballots.

However, even with these legal safeguards in place, Trump’s threat is not empty. As seen in other realms of voting, threats can fuel distrust, pressure states to reduce voting opportunities and ultimately discourage voters. To fully understand what taking away mail-in voting or even limiting it would mean for disabled people, let us look at their experiences at polling places. After all, even non-disabled voters face barriers at these locations: long lines, limited polling sites and time constraints. Disabled people, including myself, face these on top of other concerns. For example, being blind, I cannot simply drive to a polling place. Thankfully, Allegheny College provided shuttles during the last election for its students, but this is not an option for most blind voters. Once I am at the polling place, there are other issues to consider. For one, if you do have a disability that restricts mobility, you have to hope for an accessible ramp, proper signage, or, in my case, a person willing to help me navigate. Without vision, I cannot see where lines begin, end, or where the accessible voting machine required by the ADA is located. After all that, I must hope that the screen reader on the machine is working properly and fully updated, because if it is not, I would have to ask for help, sacrificing my privacy and independence. All of this creates stress and potential inaccessibility to do something as simple as cast a vote. That is why I, and about two-fifths of disabled Americans, decided to go with mail-in ballots in 2024 and 2022, respectively.

Some may dismiss two-fifths as insignificant, but that’s nearly 40% of disabled people. To put that in context, the CDC reports that disabled people make up 28.7% of the U.S. population. If we do the math, we find that this means roughly 27 million disabled Americans rely on mail-in ballots. 27 million people who, without mail-in options, will be forced to return to generally inaccessible polling locations. Many may even see the barriers of inaccessibility as too high and will decide not to vote. That means all their voices will go unheard.

So, we have seen the threat to mail-in voting, the constitutional limits on presidential power and the legal protections for people with disabilities. We have also seen the reality of voting in person with a disability and the massive number of Americans that will be impacted if vote-by-mail is cut. While the president is unlikely to actually ban it, we may still see indirect effects that will strike at the rights of disabled individuals, and thus, we need to take this threat seriously. After all, rights are not lost overnight; they are lost when we stop paying attention. This is why we must stay informed, speak out and defend mail-in ballots so all of us can vote.