Texans with disabilities and seniors have a number of accessibility options to help them cast their votes. On the other hand, there's also a lot of confusion, even controversy and anxiety over using these options. But aren't these things supposed to make voting easier, not more stressful?
The contested nature of voting laws has resulted in misunderstandings and hesitancy among the disability community and seniors, says Lydia Nunez Landry. Nunez Landry is involved with several disability rights and voters organizations, including as the co-state coordinator for the nonprofit group REV UP Texas.
"REV UP stands for Register, Educate, Vote, and Use Your Power. So it's an acronym," she says. "We're a nonpartisan disability voting rights group, and our mission is to empower disabled people and their families and friends to be civically engaged, to be informed voters."
Having spent years registering and educating disability voters and seniors on their rights and options, she probably has a better idea than almost anyone else about what questions these voters have, and what misunderstandings need to be addressed. So, here's the frequently asked questions file for accessible voting in Texas, 2026 midterms edition.
* "I've come across people who said, 'Well, the line was really long and I couldn't stand up anymore.' That's one of the things we educate them about. As a disabled voter, you get to go to the front of the line," Nunez Landry says.
* "Another question is, 'Well, I need assistance for whatever reason, and I'm not sure what to do about that,'" she says. "You can have an assistant of your choice. It can be a family member. It can be a poll worker. It can't be an agent of a union, and you can't be paying someone to help you vote, or vice versa, and it can't be your employer.
* "One of the biggest confusions I've come across lately when I'm doing the Abilities Expo is people rolling up in their power wheelchairs or walkers saying, 'Well, I don't have a doctor's note stating I'm disabled, or I haven't been determined disabled by the Social Security Administration.'
"Nope, you don't need a doctor's note proving that you have a disability, or a determination from Social Security. If you're disabled and you need assistance, you're allowed to receive that assistance, and no one's allowed to question you about your disability.
* "The last election we had some people who went to vote curbside, and the election official questioned whether they really needed it and scared them, and they drove off. So we have to educate people about their rights. For instance, you're eligible for curbside voting if for some reason you're unable to enter the polling location, or if you're 65 and older. The same goes with mail-in ballots in Texas. It's different in other states.
* "Another issue I commonly face is that during the height of the pandemic, in certain counties we had what was called drive-through voting. But drive-through voting and curbside voting are two entirely different things.
"When we did have drive-through voting, which we don't anymore, it was available to everyone, and they did away with that. It was in the newspapers and elsewhere, so a lot of disabled people thought that meant we no longer had curbside voting.
"I've had to educate people: No, we still have curbside voting. Although in the last legislative session, they passed a requirement for an oath that you have to sign stating that you're not physically able to make it into the polling location to vote.
"I'm telling people not to let that frighten them away from curbside voting if they need it. For example, I have a friend undergoing cancer treatment, and with COVID and the flu, they're afraid to leave the house at certain times of the year. It could be available for someone who has immunodeficiency issues, mobility impairments, or other disabilities or chronic illnesses.
* "I've also had questions about who can transport people to the polls. If it's six or more people that you're transporting, you have to sign an oath in Texas."
* Nunez Landry also urges people to make a voting plan, firm up arrangements for how they'll get to the polls, find out what ID they'll need, and bring a helper if needed. A great place to start is REVUPTexas.org. Click "Voting Resources" at the top, or go to the bottom of the homepage for useful links. Check your voter registration, polling place location, and find your sample ballot, including lesser-known races and ballot questions, at the League of Women Voters' VOTE411 website, all linked there.
* Finally, if you have problems while voting in person, take along the Disability Rights Texas voter hotline number: (866) 687-8683. They have operators in English, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, and other languages.
"It's so important to vote right now because we are at risk of losing 50 years of disability rights. They're taking disabled children out of the most integrated settings in school and putting them back into segregated schools where they just have disabled kids," says Nunez Landry. "Everything that people like Bob Kafka worked for, and ADAPT, and Judy Heumann, and Brad Lomax, and Diane Coleman, and all of our heroes in the disability community, we're at risk of losing those things right now. …
"Part of 'nothing about us without us' is being civically engaged, voting, and paying attention to what's going on. If you're a patriot and you love your country and you love the United States and you believe in the Constitution, disability rights and civil rights, and you want those things to continue, then we have to work for them." Her voice rises in pitch and urgency. "We have to fight for them."
This is KPFT People's News, reporting.
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