How does your state handle voter registration issues like this one?

[struggle4progress]

A while back, I was engaged in a voter registration drive, offering the public a chance to fill out registration forms

Typically a person fills out the form and signs a statement at the bottom, affirming (under penalty of perjury) that the facts are accurately stated and that eligibility criteria are met

One person who approached to register, indirectly through an assistant, was a perfectly articulate wheelchair-confined citizen with NO use of any limbs: the citizen was unable to make any mark whatsoever on the form and in particular was unable to produce anything that might count legally as a signature

I think we may have handled this situation adequately, but I'm not a lawyer, and I'm still waiting to hear back from election officials about their preferred way to proceed in such cases

Has anybody here encountered this issue? What is the proper way to proceed in your state?

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. I'll be interested to read the responses.

I honestly have no idea how that would be handled here.

[struggle4progress]

4. It's clear to me such individuals have the right to register and vote, with whatever assistance

they need

It's also clear to me that it would be grossly discriminatory to require such individuals to jump many more hoops than the average citizen, in the course of attempting to register

[LiberalFighter]

5. Was there a spot to indicate that type of situation?

Indiana provides a spot if the applicant is unable to fill it out due to disability showing who assisted.

[struggle4progress]

7. Nope. And the standard instructions don't even mention the possibility

[RoccoR5955]

2. If you were in my state, I could tell you where to go,

who to speak to, and check the laws... I live in NY. I am sure that we have a method of dealing with this, but I am not sure what it is. I can tell from your profile that you are from NC, and I have no idea what their laws are. So sorry.

[lonestarnot]

3. Did person have thumbs? What about a thumbprint?

[struggle4progress]

6. That's a suggestion I hadn't considered. I'll mention it when the elections folk finally

get back to me

But it was my understanding that this person had essentially no volitional control of limbs at all -- and so I think the person would be completely unable to deliberately press with an inked finger

[lonestarnot]

8. The person can be assisted with that, not a problem. Two witnesses and a thumbprint.

[robinlynne]

17. Some people sign with their mouths. how does this person normally sign things?

there are fingerprints. This person must know how he/she signs normally.

[struggle4progress]

18. That is an excellent and obvious question I did not even think to ask, and the information was not

volunteered to me

[Arkansas Granny]

9. My father was blind an could not sign his name. At the time, all he had to do

was make an X or even touch the pen when someone else made the X for him in order to endorse checks made out to him. This was several years ago, so law may have changed since then. I tried to google something, but came up with nothing.

[NMMNG]

10. Can they use their mouth to hold a pen?

If they can make some sort of mark that way it may be acceptable. If not, the ADA may have some advice. I can't see any legal reason to deny the person voting rights just because they have a physical disability.

[struggle4progress]

12. I thought of that at the time but decided not to offer it: none of my pens were

particularly pristine, so I didn't want to say "Here put this pen in your mouth after a bunch of other people have handled it"

Maybe if I'd had some isopropyl swaps or something like that to clean a pen thoroughly with

[fishbulb703]

11. A fingerprint is the apt solution. Although even a mark with a pen in his mouth would work.

[glowing]

13. I think that he would have to go to the election board office to

fill out a form there.. The officials would have a way to validate who he was and where he lives by picture ID's and utility bills with his name and address on them..

Otherwise, I would suggest that the gentleman fill out the form and request for a mail in ballot for voting for increased ease.

[struggle4progress]

15. I guess but it seems to me an unfair burden: anybody else can download the form

from the web and mail it in -- so why demand that this person, with extreme mobility difficulties, somehow get to the elections office in person? The person obviously can't drive, and it's not an entirely trivial matter getting the person transported

[EmeraldCityGrl]

14. Would the assistant or someone else involved in his/her

care have Power of Attorney? I have registered hundreds of voters and never come across this situation.
It'll be interesting to hear the answer and which State you are in.

[jwirr]

16. One thing I know is that the person is eligible to vote. I have helped

many persons with Developmental Disabilities and related conditions register to vote when they can only make an X. I wonder if the person you are talking about could not have held a pen in his/her mouth and made some kind of mark? It would seem to me that the county would have to come up with and alternative method for this person because they cannot refuse to let him/her vote.