2016 Postmortem
Showing Original Post only (View all)A disabled Bernie Sanders Supporter raised a good point [View all]
on Reddit
The Bill Clinton rally that blocked polls also violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the mayor authorized it.
To me, this rally violated voting law as I understand it in three ways, but I haven't seen any attention given to my third point here. Can my fellow Sanders supporters help raise awareness for this issue?
There was electioneering inside and outside the poll. This is clear from the videos we've all seen and discussed, no matter what the officials say today. There is video and photographic evidence.
Access to the poll was blocked for voters who wished to enter. This was an inappropriate place for an ex-president to appear on election day. It caused traffic jams and blocked access to the polls and parking lot. This likely disproportionately affected working class voters who could only vote on their lunch hour.
The FEDERAL Americans with Disabilities Act has very strict guidelines for access to the polls. This rally was apparently authorized by Mayor Marty Walsh and he needs to be held accountable for not following federal law for DISABLED access to the polls. People who were there said they had to walk quite a ways past the crowds to get to the polls. The videos fairly clearly show a barricaded parking lot and I believe the anecdotal accounts about voters having to walk past that huge crowd.
I wonder if single-payer healthcare is more important to the elderly and disabled? This is why we have these laws. No class of voter should be unfairly suppressed through such shameful tactics.
I remember when growing up in Republican Orange County, rent-a-cops were posted outside of polling places, intentionally dressed to resemble immigration officials to help scare off the Latino vote. Laws were passed to prevent that. This is the same thing, whether it's suppressing the votes of those who live in this area, or the elderly and disabled. Mayor Walsh should be ashamed.
I reported this ADA violation to the feds and hope they take action before anyone tries this again. I do not know what the penalties are for a mayor who willfully disregards federal ADA guidelines, but that $20 law all y'all like to cite doesn't apply to actually physically blocking access to the polls. This is federal law, not state.
Here are the rather extensive guidelines for access to polls.
http://www.ada.gov/votingprt.pdf
