Assistance at the Polls
If you need assistance at the polls, tell the election official if you are a voter who needs help to vote. You do not have to provide proof of your disability. For guidance on which voters are eligible to receive assistance at the polling place, please see Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) which provides for voters who need assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write.
Voters may be assisted by:
- Any person the voter chooses who is not an election worker;
- Two election workers on Election Day; or
- One election worker during early voting.
Voters MAY NOT be assisted by:
- Their employer;
- An agent of their employer; or
- An officer or agent of their union.
The person assisting the voter must read him or her the entire ballot, unless the voter asks to have only parts of the ballot read. The person assisting the voter must take an oath that he or she will not try to influence the voter’s vote and will mark the ballot as the voter directs. If the voter chooses to be assisted by polling place officials, poll watchers and election inspectors may observe the voting process, but if the voter asks to be assisted by a person the voter chooses, no one else may watch him or her vote.
It is illegal for a person assisting the voter to:
- Try to influence the voter’s vote;
- Mark the voter’s ballot in a way other than the way they have asked; or
- Tell anyone how the voter voted.
Voters May Use Interpreters at the Polls
More Information about Interpreters at the Polls
Voters who cannot speak English, or who communicate only with sign language, may use an interpreter to help them communicate with election officials, regardless of whether the election official(s) attending to the voter can speak the same language as the voter. The voter may select any person other than the voter’s employer, an agent of the voter’s employer, or an officer or agent of a labor union to which the voter belongs. If the voter cannot read the languages on the ballot, the interpreter may also act as an assistant for the voter, but they must follow the procedures for an assistant. (See assistance section above for more details.) If the voter is deaf and does not have a sign language interpreter who can accompany them to help communicate with the poll worker or read the ballot, the voter should contact his or her local election officials before the election and request assistance.