Many of Utah’s ballot drop boxes are installed on curbs, making them too high for people with disabilities to reach. Others are placed outdoors in an area without a level surface area to approach the box. Some are stowed inside buildings without accommodations like ramps, where accessible entrances are locked or there is no accessible parking.
More than half of 291 ballot drop boxes assessed by Utah’s Disability Law Center during the 2022 election cycle were not accessible to people with disabilities.
But without adjustments to drop box requirements, Republican lawmakers are pushing ahead anyway with a bill that would force most Utahns to leave their ballots in a box after showing their ID, or sign up in person to later return their ballot through the mail.
Utah is one of eight states to send ballots to all active, registered voters by mail. Currently, Utah voters can cast their vote simply by filling out their ballot and placing it back in the mailbox.
Salem Republican Rep. Jefferson Burton’s “Amendments to Election Law,” or HB300, would change that.
More than one in four Utahns report having a disability — including limited mobility, sight or hearing, and mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder or anxiety — according to the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
“We know that requiring individuals to submit a ballot in person with ID in hand will disproportionately impact senior citizens, disabled veterans, the blind community and those living in care facilities,” Nate Crippes, a public affairs attorney for Disability Law Center, told the House Government Operations Committee on Tuesday.
He continued, “Even though a voter can request to receive and return a ballot by mail, to do so they must show their ID in person. This will be challenging for many voters with disabilities due to health conditions, lack of transportation and because family members or care staff hold their ID.”
Disability Law Center is tasked by the governor’s office with advocating for the legal rights — including voting — of people with disabilities and offering education on how to improve access. Its electoral efforts are part of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and, in fiscal 2025, it has received over $60,000 from the federal government toward its advocacy.
The nonprofit law firm regularly compiles research on whether the methods by which elections are conducted and the facilities in which they are hosted present barriers to people with disabilities.
Using a checklist published by the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure ballot drop boxes are Americans with Disabilities Act compliant, the organization published a study in 2023 in which it determined 58% of Utah’s drop boxes were not accessible.
Accessibility problems were spread across counties of all sizes. From the state’s largest county, Salt Lake, to the most rural counties, the majority of drop boxes were inaccessible.
“We think all those with disabilities have the right to receive their ballot at home and cast their vote from home,” Crippes told lawmakers.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Rep. Jefferson Burton, R-Salem, listens during a committee meeting at the Utah Capitol on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024.
Before she voted to advance the bill, Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, suggested that people whose access is impeded should sue to address the problem.
“This bill isn’t going to change that,” she told Crippes. “It will exacerbate something that is already out of compliance, so we should be fixing that.”
After questions about the lack of accommodations for people with disabilities in his bill, Burton told the committee, “We recognize that that’s a flaw, and we’re going to fix it. In no way do we want to disenfranchise the handicapped and good citizens who want to vote.”
A new version of the bill has not yet been published. Burton told reporters Thursday that he was “within days” of having a substitute ready to present to his colleagues.
Despite one Republican and four Democrats on the House Government Operations Committee voting against the bill, nine votes in favor gave it enough support to move on to the House floor.
Senate leaders have said they plan to bring forward an alternative elections reform proposal. That bill has not yet been published.
