El Paso County has made provisions to ensure voters with disabilities have the ability to cast their vote independently and in secret. Every polling place will provide an ADA compliant voting system accessible to voters with disabilities and offer an audio ballot specially for voters with vision or reading impairments.

Tell the election worker if you are a voter who needs assistance to vote, you do not have to provide proof of your disability.

Voters are entitled to receive assistance if they:

• Cannot read or write; or
• Have a physical disability that prevents them from reading or marking the ballot.

Voters may be assisted by:

• Any person the voter chooses who is not an election worker;
• Two election workers on Election Day; or
• One election worker during Early Voting.

Voters MAY NOT be assisted by:

• Their employer;
• An agent of their employer; or
• An officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs.

It is illegal for a person assisting the voter to:

• Try to influence the voter’s vote;
• Mark the voter’s ballot in a way other than the way they have asked; or
• Tell anyone how the voter voted.

An election worker shall give order priority to individuals with a mobility problem that substantially impairs the person’s ability to move around (Texas Election Code, Section 63.0015).

• A person assisting an individual with a mobility problem may also, at the individual’s request, be given voting order priority.
• Disabilities and conditions that may qualify you for voting order priority include paralysis, lung disease, the use of portable oxygen, cardiac deficiency, severe limitation in the ability to walk due to arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition, wheelchair confinement, arthritis, foot disorder, the inability to walk 200 feet without stopping to rest, or of a brace, cane, crutch, or other assistive device.
• Voter who wish to be given voting order priority, and be accepted for voting before others in line to vote at the polling place, may indicate this to any election worker serving at the polling place. The presiding election judge shall bring the voter and the voter’s assistant, if applicable, forward to the front of the line.

Voters who cannot speak English, or who communicate only with sign language, may use an interpreter to help them communicate with election workers, regardless of whether the election worker(s) attending to the voter can speak the same language as the voter. The voter may select any person other than the voter’s employer, an agent of the voter’s employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs. If the voter cannot read the languages on the ballot, the interpreter may also act as an assistant for the voter, but they must follow the procedures for an assistant. If the voter is deaf and does not have a sign language interpreter who can accompany them to help communicate with the election worker or read the ballot, the voter should contact our office at (915) 273-3597 before the election and request assistance.

If a voter is physically unable to enter the polling place without assistance or likelihood of injury to his or her health, an election worker may bring a voting unit during Early Voting or on Election Day to their car at the entrance or curb of the voting location on the voter’s request (Texas Election Code, Section 64.009(a)). All curbside voters will be allowed the same privacy as a voter at the voting booth.

If the voter is not only physically unable to enter the polling place, but is also eligible for voter assistance in marking his/her ballot:

• Two election workers may assist the voter (Texas Election Code, Section 64.032(a)) or;
• The voter may be given assistance by a person of the voter’s choice, other than the voter’s employer, or agent of that employer, or officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs (Texas Election Code, Section 64.032(c); 52 U.S.C. § 10508).

Every polling place during the Early Voting period or on Election Day will designate a space for curbside voting. If you are a voter requesting curbside voting, you may call or text to request assistance. The phone number will be displayed in an A-Frame sign that will be placed at the designated spot. We ask that you park in front of the sign for assistance.

For more information please contact our office at (915) 273-3597.

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