Voter With Special Needs

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Voting is one of our nation’s most fundamental rights and a hallmark of our democracy. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal civil rights law that provides protections to people with disabilities that are similar to protections provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. 

Title II of the ADA requires state and local governments (“public entities”) to ensure that people with disabilities have a full and equal opportunity to vote.  The ADA’s provisions apply to all aspects of voting, including voter registration, site selection, and the casting of ballots, whether on Election Day or during an early voting in-person process.

Ellis County Elections provides the Election Systems and Software (ES&S) ExpressVote Voting System with ADA access that is available at all voting devices to serve voters who are blind, have limited vision, or limited dexterity that prevents them from marking the ballot without assistance. The Election Systems and Software voting system is ADA compliant and certified by the Texas Secretary of State for use in Texas.  

Priority Voting:

There is a law in Section 63.0013 of the Voting Rights Act known as Notice of Voting Order Priority that allows voters with mobility problems to be accepted for voting ahead of others in the line, along with their assistant. Ask the voting clerk to move you to the front of the line if this will help you with the voting process. 


Curbside Voting:

If you are physically unable to enter the polling place without personal assistance or the likelihood of injuring the voter’s health, you may qualify to vote curbside. There is a statement oath you will need to swear that you meet the requirements and then will be able to vote, for example oath click here. When you arrive locate and park at the "Curbside Voting" sign, for example click here. All locations will also have a button that can be pressed to alert the election officer for curbside assistance. An election officer will qualify you and check you in for voting. Then they will bring an ExpressVote machine to you at the entrance of the polling place or to your car at curbside. After you mark the ballot on the ExpressVote machine, your ballot will print, you can verify your ballot selections, and then you can place the ballot in the secrecy envelope and hand envelope to the election officer who will place it in the DS200 Tabulator Machine. Or at your request, a companion may fill out the oath of assistance and then deposit the ballot for you. 

Tip: If you plan to go alone to vote curbside, it is wise to call ahead so election officials will expect you (972-825-5195 ext 2). You may vote curbside during the early voting period or on Election Day per the Election Code section 64.009.


Voters may use an Assistant or Interpreter at the Polls:

If you need assistance at the polls, tell the election official 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.

At the polling place, the person assisting or interpreting for the voter will need to fill out the Oath of Assistance or Oath of Interpreter form.

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 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.



More information provided by the Texas Secretary of State on services for voters with special needs.  

Voters with a disability can qualify for a Ballot by Mail, if they prefer to vote from home.  Further information about voting by mail can be found here:  http://www.co.ellis.tx.us/739/Early-Voting-Information-Ballot-by-Mail