WASHINGTON, DC – The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) strongly condemns President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) titled “Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,” which threatens access to voting by mail and interferes with established election processes.
There are more than 40 million eligible voters with disabilities in the United States, representing one in six voters. Disabled voters are part of every community and every political party.
For many voters with disabilities, voting by mail is the only way they can participate in elections. For example, 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. These are realities disabled voters face during every election.
This EO changes how states will determine who is eligible to vote by mail, creating a
“citizenship list” based on data from the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security. This data has been repeatedly found to include inaccurate and outdated information. This means that eligible voters could be erroneously disenfranchised and disabled voters could lose access to their only method of accessible voting.
The “citizenship list” of who is eligible to vote by mail would be shared 60 days before an election, conflicting with existing state deadlines for voter registration and vote by mail requests. This would disenfranchise newly eligible voters and voters who have recently moved but are still within state deadlines to update their registration. It also creates barriers for voters with disabilities whose needs may change unexpectedly. A voter who typically votes in person may experience a flare in their health, planned or unplanned hospitalization, change in their direct care staffing, or loss of accessible transportation.These examples are only a few reasons why a disabled person might decide to vote by mail on shorter notice than 60 days out from an election. Current state processes allow for this flexibility, this EO would take it away.
Disabled voters already face disproportionate barriers to the ballot – this EO makes those barriers worse and increases the risk of disenfranchisement across communities, including Black, Latina/o, indigenous, people of color, and/or voters in rural communities.
As with previous Executive Orders issued on voting by President Trump, the President does not have the constitutional authority to change election laws – this power is explicitly given to the states and Congress. This EO creates confusion, spreads fear, and threatens our fundamental right to vote.
Voting should be accessible and easy for all eligible voters. AAPD will continue fighting to engage disabled voters and build an accessible democracy.
Get Involved
Join our REV UP Campaign to make our democracy accessible and increase civic engagement in the disability community. REV UP stands for “Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power!” Subscribe to REV UPdates or join a state or national call. REV UP has coalitions in 22 states who work year-round to ensure disabled people have access to the ballot. Find our full list of coalitions here and email revup@aapd.com if you need support getting connected.