民主选举的要旨是人人都参加投票。由于其人口的庞大和多元化，美国必须不断地、持续地付出努力，来排除那些妨碍合格选民进行投票的障碍。

这也包括关注美国残疾人的投票权问题。

海伦娜·伯格(Helena Berger)是一家维权团体“美国残疾人协会”(American Association of People with Disabilities)的主席。她表示，在2012年的选举中，共有1560万美国残疾人参加了投票。这个数字比美国的拉丁裔和亚裔的总计投票数还要高。

伯格说：“我们想要告诉那些竞选公职的人士：残障人士参加投票举足轻重。你需要关注我们并为我们所关心的问题进行呼吁。如果你这样做的话，你就会得到我们的选票，而我们的选票是至关重要的。”伯格所在的残疾人协会有一个名为“REVUP”的计划，该计划旨在为更多的残障人士提供投票登记服务。

美国残障人士的投票权受到一些法律的保护：

• 1984年的《老年人与残疾人投票无障碍法案》(Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act)要求在联邦选举中使用的所有投票站都能为残疾人和老人提供便利，或者必须提供一种替代的投票方法。
• 1990年的《美国残疾人法案》(Americans with Disabilities Act, ADA)也同样对投票站作出了规定，对停车、落客区以及入口通道都有一定要求。美国司法部(Justice Department)提供了一份清单，以帮助投票站执行ADA的有关规定。
• 1993年的《全国选民登记法》(National Voter Registration Act)规定，那些为残疾人提供公共协助的办事机构也应该为残疾人提供选民登记服务。
• 2002年的《协助美国投票法》(Help America Vote Act)规定在美国各地建立57个“保护和宣传”(Protection and Advocacy)机构，以保证投票站提供辅助性的投票协助，例如为弱视人士提供大字体的屏幕和选票；为盲人提供盲文，为聋人提供手语翻译。

全国残疾人维权网络(National Disability Rights Network)是一个吸收保护和宣传机构成为会员的组织，该网络的米歇尔·毕肖普(Michelle Bishop)说，对于选民和投票站工作人员来说，了解新型投票机的功能是提供便利的一项重要内容。她说：“为选民和投票站工作人员提供培训将对选举日(Election Day)的顺利进行产生巨大影响。”

毕肖普说：“对美国人来说，能够以传统的方式在选举日前往投票站参与投票将依然是非常重要的。作为一个美国人，这是非常重要的一部分。” 

‘The disability vote counts’

 The whole point of democratic elections is that everybody gets to vote. With its large and diverse population, the U.S. has to make constant and ongoing efforts to address any obstacle that keeps eligible voters from voting.

That includes looking out for the voting rights of Americans with disabilities.

In the 2012 elections, 15.6 million Americans with disabilities voted, according to Helena Berger, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, an advocacy group. That total is more than the U.S. Latino and Asian vote combined, she said.

“What we’re telling those running for office is, ‘The disability vote counts. What you need to do is pay attention and advocate for our issues. If you do, you’ll get our vote, and our vote can make a difference,'” says Berger, whose association has a program called REVUP that aims to register more people with disabilities.

Several laws protect the voting rights of Americans with disabilities:

• The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984 requires that all polling places used in federal elections be accessible to the disabled and the elderly or an alternate means of voting must be provided.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 likewise covers polling places, with requirements for parking, drop-off areas, and entryways. The Justice Department provides a checklist to help polling places comply with ADA guidelines.
• The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 requires that offices where people with disabilities go for public assistance also be able to register them as voters.
• The Help America Vote Act of 2002 established 57 “Protection and Advocacy” agencies throughout the U.S. to ensure polling places offer auxiliary voting aids such as large print screens and ballots for people with low vision; Braille for the blind and interpreters for deaf people.

Understanding the capabilities of updated voting machines is an important accessibility issue for voters and poll workers, says Michelle Bishop of the National Disability Rights Network, the membership organizations for protection and advocacy agencies. “Training voters and training poll workers could make a huge difference in how smoothly things run on Election Day,” she said.

“It continues to be really important to Americans to be able to participate in the process in that really traditional way of going to their polling place on Election Day,” Bishop said. “It’s such a big part of being an American.”