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74 Rutgers Univ. L. Rev. Commentaries 101 (2021-2022)

handle is hein.journals/rgsusty74 and id is 1 raw text is: A NEW START DOWN AN OLD ROAD TOWARD SUBSTANTIVE VOTER EQUALITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES Tyler Creighton TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 101 I. THE HISTORY AND CURRENT STATE OF VOTING WITH A DISABILITY.... 104 II. CONTRASTING APPROACHES TO THE ADA AND VOTING RIGHTS......... 108 A. An Initial Misguided Approach: Mere Technical Equality ... 110 B. A Better Path Forward: Substantive Equality, Too............... 113 III. ROADBLOCKS TO SUBSTANTIVE EQUALITY?....................................... 118 CONCLUSION............................................................................................. 122 INTRODUCTION As the June 2020 state primary election in Pennsylvania approached, Joseph Drenth, who is legally blind, faced an untenable choice: vote by mail and sacrifice the ability to cast a private and independent vote, or continue to vote privately and independently at a polling location and sacrifice the health and safety of himself and his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic?1 Fortunately, a preliminary injunction ordering the state to implement a remote accessible vote-by-mail system made such a choice unnecessary for Mr. Drenth.2 Unfortunately, voters with disabilities in many other jurisdictions throughout the country were not so lucky. Even as the threat of COVID-19 hopefully moves to our rearview mirrors, Mr. Drenth's successful lawsuit highlighted a critical but underutilized legal tool for ensuring that voters with disabilities are afforded an equal voting experience-including the ability to cast a private and independent ballot-as compared to other voters. New technology and federal investments over the last few decades have finally enabled Mr. Drenth and millions of other Americans with visual, manual dexterity, and cognitive impairments to cast private and 1. Complaint at 11-12, Drenth v. Boockvar, No. 1:20-CV-00829, 2020 WL 2745729 (M.D. Pa. May 27, 2020). 2. See Drenth, 2020 WL 2745729 at *6. 101

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