Outreach, education key to voting accessibility, Wisconsin advocates say

Click here to read highlights from the story The gap in Wisconsin voter turnout between voters with and without disabilities is among the largest in the nation. The state has “many excellent accessibility requirements,” but it’s a challenge ensuring people are aware of them and that they’re implemented correctly, said Lisa Hassenstab of Disability Rights Wisconsin. Wisconsin Watch intern Baylee Alger, who lost his sight at 2 years old, reports on his perceived barriers to voting and what he learned while reporting this story. Of Wisconsin’s 3.8 million voters, 25% – or an estimated 950,000 – have a disability, according to Disability Rights Wisconsin. Yet Wisconsin’s voter turnout gap between voters with and without disabilities is among the largest in the nation at 11.7%, according to a Rutgers University analysis of 2022 voter turnout data. I have been blind since I was 2 years old. A brain tumor destroyed my optic nerves, and luckily, the tumor hasn’t spread. I’v