Westchester B.O.E. Finally Recognizes Disabled Voters

By Maureen Keating Tsuchiya

The Westchester Guardian August 31, 2006

 

Tuesday, September 12^th is the date of New York State ’s upcoming Primary election. The Westchester County Board of Election (BOE) recently sent all registered voters a “mail check” post card advising all registered voters about the location of their polling sites and if the location is wheelchair accessible.

According to Jeannie L. Palazola, Deputy-Commissioner of the BOE, a letter will be sent out next week to the registered voters in approximately 50 of the 441 voting districts located at schools, town halls, firehouses, churches across Westchester, advising them of the new location of their polling sites that will finally be wheelchair accessible to persons with disabilities as required under the Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), and New York State human rights and election laws.

For years, Westchester ’s disabled votes have been shut out of the political process by architectural barriers. Thanks to the steadfast leadership of three disability rights groups—Westchester Disabled on the Move, Westchester Independent Living Center and Westchester Council of the Blind—which filed a lawsuit three years ago, access to voting in person will become the norm rather than the exception.

Attorney William Frumkin of White Plains has represented the advocacy groups throughout the protracted process that involved surveying hundreds of polling sites.

Melvyn Tanzman, Executive Director of Westchester Disabled on the Move, stressed the “importance of all people being able to vote.” Tanzman has worked extensively with the Board of Election in identifying inadequacies by using standards established by the U.S. Department of Justice in evaluating all polling sites.  This information has been submitted to the State of New York by the Board of Elections to request more than $200,000 in federal HAVA funding for polling site accessibility across the county.

Westchester County spent over $500,000 with the Manhattan law firm of Epstein Becker & Green in vigorously opposing the lawsuit, money that could have been better spent in making these polling sites accessible to the voting public. The County could have purchased over 250 automatic door openers with that money—installing the first one at the primary entrance of the Board of Elections at 25 Quarropas Street in White Plains, and then the rest could have been installed at some its 441 polling sites.

The U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Voting Section, recommends that large signs be posted at new and old sites, with information regarding the change in polling sites addresses; and, that election call centers be advised of these changes. You may call the Voting Section toll-free at (800)253-3931 or (202) 307-2767 with any problems.

The City of Yonkers , as the largest city in Westchester , will have the most polling sites relocated.  At the present time, persons running for election in these districts will not be systematically notified of these new polling site locations.

Ironically, many inaccessible polling sites are located in neighborhood schools, town buildings and fire halls—publicly financed buildings that are under separate, decades old requirements for access for people with disabilities. Schools across Westchester have spent several billion dollars in capital construction since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Yet not one school in Westchester , old or new, has a push pad or other automatic door opening device at any primary entrance.

Leadership by example doesn’t appear at the Westchester headquarters for the two main political parties as they are not accessible to persons with disabilities. Both have steps leading up to the front door. The Democratic Party Chairman, Reginald LaFayette, who is also the Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner, inherited this condition at Room 210, 170 East Post Road in White Plains , from his predecessors. This inaccessible location is also the Westchester and Rockland headquarters for Senator Hillary Rodham’s Clinton re-election campaign.

The White Plains Democratic Party no longer holds its meetings at this location because of complaints about the lack of ADA accessibility.

Just down the street at the Westchester GOP’s headquarters at 214 Mamaroneck Avenue , visitors are greeted with a not so friendly flight of steps. What kind of message is Chairwoman Rose Marie Panio sending to more than 200 Republicans who hold offices across Westchester County in addition to all of the candidates running for office in the upcoming elections?