Voting in Memphis

More interest expected in the 2024 elections

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first installment of our blog that will deal with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act and compliance issues. The bi-weekly content will focus on Civil Rights and equal participation in the area. Topics will include: Transportation, Paratransit, Fair housing  Communication, Deinstitutionalization and Disability Rights. 

By Tim Wheat

Memphis just finished an election for our Mayor and City Council. Less than a quarter of registered voters went to the polls and we can estimate that an even lower percentage of people with disabilities turned out in this election. Here at Disability Connection Midsouth, we are working to help you have a voice in the election and we want people with disabilities to be a vibrant part of our community and voting process. 

First, we want to know if you had any accessibility issues with the polls. You may have voted at an early voting site, at your polling site on election day or voted by absentee ballot. Disability Connection wants to hear about your experience. 

If you are not registered to vote, now may be the time to register for the elections coming up in 2024. There is a Presidential preference primary on March 5, 2024 and the Primary on August 1. The general election will be November 5, 2024.

The most effective way you can make sure your vote counts in 2024 is to check your voter registration now. In Tennessee you must have to be registered 30 days before the election. Disability Connection can help you to check your registration, or you can check online: tnmap.tn.gov/voterlookup/

At each polling site, Disability Rights Tennessee posts their phone number 1-800-342-1660 if you face any discrimination or barriers based on a disability. Disability Connection would like to hear from you what would help you to get to the polls. We can be a valuable and important part of the election process:

• There are over ONE MILLION voters with disabilities in Tennessee.

• 19.4% of registered voters in Tennessee have a disability. That is about 1 in 5 voters.

• People with disabilities at a LOWER RATE than non-disabled voters in Tennessee. 

Rutgers University found that nationally, if people with disabilities voted at the same rate as people without disabilities who have the same demographic characteristics, there would be about 1.75 million more voters. 

The Rutgers study found that some of the lower turnout of people with disabilities is tied to difficulties in voting. A national survey sponsored by the U.S. The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) following the 2020 elections found that 11% of voters with disabilities had some type of difficulty in voting, which was almost twice the rate of 6% among voters without disabilities. 

As a positive note, the same survey found that voting accessibility appears to have improved: the likelihood of voting difficulties decreased from 26% in 2012 to 11% in 2020 among voters with disabilities. In 2020 the rate of difficulties among voters with disabilities was 18% among those voting in a polling place, and 5% among those voting with a mail ballot.

A barrier that some people may have, but do not report on a survey is that they do not have a photo ID. Even if your name is in the pollbook, all voters in Tennessee must have a state or federal picture identification. Most common is a Tennessee drivers license, but you may also use a Tennessee Photo ID or US Passport. A complete list of acceptable identification is at the Tennessee website: https://sos.tn.gov/elections/voter-id-requirements

Only a court can take away your right to vote. You do not have to explain why you need help voting at the polls and you may ask for an accessible voting machine. If you ask for help, you may choose the person to help you vote or you may have a poll worker to help you.  

Tennessee is ranked first in the US for election integrity by the Heritage Foundation. If you would like to be more involved in the election you may become a poll worker, check your voter registration or get voting information at www.govotetn.gov. 

Three MATAplus Riders Guides

How you can get the right information about MATAplus

Back in July, Disability Connection wrote a letter to MATA about misinformation on their website. They have an outdated MATAplus Rider’s Guide with old errors that we wrote about in this blog on July 17.  

MATA has still not made the simple correction we asked for and you may still be getting misinformation from the MATA website. In looking closer at this issue, we have discovered that MATA has three different MATAplus Rider’s Guides.

The first of MATAplus’ three Rider’s Guides is the one that you may get from the website. If you go to the MATAplus tab a blue box at the top of the page says: “Download MATAplus Riders Guide (PDF).” You may notice that it is not an Adobe “pdf” it is a Microsoft Word document. Back in July when we notified them of the error, we assumed they had just linked an outdated version of the Rider’s Guide. 

Version 2 of the MATAplus Rider’s Guide is also available on the same webpage. The end of the second paragraph reads: “Click here for access to the MATAplus Riders Guide. The word “here” is a link to an Adobe “pdf” document and a version of the MATAplus Riders Guide that also states on the back of the cover page that it was updated May 2019. 

This version of the Rider’s Guide does not include the error we noted back in July. You may think it is the same information however, because they both say that they were updated May 2019. This can make helping people to understand how the system works very difficult. We are mainly interested in helping rider’s get good information. It is sad that MATA has been unable to remove the misinformation from the website, and to have contradictory information essentially side-by-side on the website.

Version 3 is a printed guide we received just yesterday. This version not only seems to have correct information (We have read through it just once so far), but it also clearly prints “Updated March 2022” on the inside front cover. 

This should be the information that MATA links to from the webpage and what we all use to understand the system. Hopefully MATA can find this error and correct it immediately. 

ADA Enforcement

 Amicus Brief Filed in U.S. Supreme Court Case Emphasizes Importance of Testers to ADA Enforcement

If testers are stripped of standing, the result will be less private enforcement of the ADA, a less accessible society, and the continued exclusion of people with disabilities from community life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 10, 2023

Media Contacts:
Jackie Dilworth, The Arc of the United States, dilworth@thearc.org
Tina Pinedo, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, tpinedo@dredf.org
David Card, National Disability Rights Network, press@ndrn.org

WASHINGTON, DC – Eighteen leading disability advocacy organizations have filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Acheson Hotels v. Laufer, a case that will decide whether testers – disabled people who investigate compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) – have the ability to sue businesses for discrimination when their rights under that law are violated. The case is scheduled to be heard on October 4, 2023.

Civil rights testing – intentionally investigating and challenging discrimination – has been used as an effective tool of enforcement since the 1950s, helping ensure that public accommodations were integrated and housing discrimination, challenged. Congress included the same enforcement tools when it passed the ADA in 1990 that it had included in these earlier civil rights laws, and testing has proven to be an essential enforcement tool in this context as well.

Deborah Laufer is one such tester. She is a person with disabilities who has filed numerous cases against hotels for violating an ADA regulation that requires hotels to include certain information about accessibility features in their online reservation systems. Ms. Laufer is a “tester” in her cases because she voluntarily puts herself in a situation to experience discrimination – specifically, she visits hotel websites to investigate compliance with the reservation rule – and when denied the information to which the ADA regulations entitle her, she challenges that discrimination in court and seeks to make the hotels comply with the law.

Despite acknowledging that they were, in fact, violating the ADA, hotelier Acheson doesn’t think that tester standing is fair, and argues that people like Ms. Laufer should have an immediate plan to stay at a hotel before they can challenge the hotel’s discrimination. Acheson asks the Supreme Court to reverse a First Circuit opinion upholding discrimination claims brought against them by Ms. Laufer as a tester.

The brief of amici opposes Acheson’s request and defends testing as essential to the enforcement of the ADA, arguing that eliminating tester standing would frustrate the ADA’s goal of equality of opportunity. Amici discuss how the indignity of unequal treatment has long been recognized as the sort of harm that can be remedied in court and explains how an individual’s motive, or status as a tester, does not change that. Amici also dispel a number of false claims made by Acheson and its supporters about ADA litigation.

“If individuals with the fortitude to take on the burden of ADA litigation as testers are stripped of standing, the result will inevitably be less enforcement of the ADA, frustration of its goals, and the continued exclusion of people with disabilities from community life,” said Michelle Uzeta, Deputy Legal Director of amicus Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.

“Given that the ADA was signed into law more than 30 years ago and thousands of businesses remain inaccessible to people with disabilities, it is critically important the Supreme Court affirms the ability of testers to investigate compliance,” said Executive Director of the National Disability Rights Network Marlene Sallo. “Testers ensure that travelers with disabilities do not discover their hotel is inaccessible when they show up at the door.”

“By the time a disabled person attempts to patronize a noncompliant public accommodation, it’s too late for a lawsuit to be much use,” added Amy Robertson of Fox and Robertson, PC, counsel for Amici. “Systemic investigation by those protected by the ADA can accelerate society’s progress toward a time when they and others can go about their daily lives expecting – and attaining – access to a wide range of facilities and services.”

Shira Wakschlag, Senior Director of Legal Advocacy & General Counsel at The Arc of the United States: “People with disabilities face rampant inaccessibility and discrimination that impacts every aspect of their lives – from travel to employment to health care and everything in between. Despite the ADA’s promise to create equal access, insufficient oversight and enforcement means that businesses frequently ignore the civil rights of disabled people, making their daily lives extremely difficult and undermining the rights guaranteed by the law. ADA testers are essential to ensuring the rights of people with disabilities are enforced and protected and that the full promise of the ADA is realized.”

Amici are represented by attorneys Karla Gilbride, Amy Robertson of Fox & Robertson, PC, Justin Ormand of Allen and Overy LLP, Thomas Zito of Disability Rights Advocates, and Michelle Uzeta of Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.

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About The Arc: The Arc advocates for and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including Down syndrome, autism, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, cerebral palsy, and other diagnoses. The Arc has a network of 600+ chapters across the country promoting and protecting the human rights of people with IDD and actively supporting their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes and without regard to diagnosis. Editor’s Note: The Arc is not an acronym; always refer to us as The Arc, not The ARC and never ARC. The Arc should be considered as a title or a phrase.

About Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund: The Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF) is a national, nonprofit law and policy center led by people with disabilities and dedicated to advancing and protecting the civil and human rights of disabled people. Founded in 1979 by people with disabilities and parents of children with disabilities, DREDF remains board- and staff-led by members of the communities for whom it advocates.

About National Disability Rights Network: The National Disability Rights Network works in Washington, DC on behalf of the Protection and Advocacy Systems (P&As) and Client Assistance Programs (CAPs), the nation’s largest providers of legal advocacy services for people with disabilities.

MATAplus Recertification

What the MATAplus Assessment Center Experience is Like

Allison Donald 

It had been two years since I rode MATAplus and three years since I had been recertified for the paratransit service. It's that time again! As you can probably guess I am overjoyed by the thought.  

I called the number located in the highlighted box of the upper right corner of the application after it was complete.  The administrative assistant worked with me and scheduled an in person appointment for August 8th.  I also inquired about the in-home assessment.  She informed me that if I chose the in-home assessment then my appointment would be pushed back until September. 

I was not expecting to hear that, so I took the appointment.  I must admit I didn't have any expectations. All I knew was that the assessment process had changed and now those individuals who applied for MATAplus must pass a two part assessment in order to become eligible to ride MATAplus. 

I was late, because I had entered the wrong address and ended up at the Domino's pizza across the street. I was a little disappointed that I had to pay for my ride there.  I remember when the assessment center first opened they were giving applicants free rides to and from their assessment appointments.  

Here are a few tips for your next assessment:

• Be On Time if you are running late the assistant will give you a call as a reminder of your appointment.  If you are more than 15 minutes late you are at risk of having your appointment canceled.

• Make sure that the application is Complete. The receptionist will assist with filling in minor details.  However, it makes the process more efficient if you come in with the application done as stated on the forms.

• Be honest during the physical assessment, don't try to sugarcoat your abilities when you are faced with climbing and walking down the stairs.  This is an essential function of being able to ride MATApus safely and independently.  Also during the interview please do not be afraid to disclose whether or not you will need a personal care attendant to accompany you on trips.

I was taken back into the office for the second and final part of the assessment.  I was asked to update my address and I also informed them that I also used a power chair.  My identification card was made on the spot. I was asked if I wanted to take a new photo or keep the one that was already on file.  The MATAplus assessment coordinator also told me what the fare was as well.  

Overall, it was a pleasant experience and yes it could be more comprehensive, but in my opinion it is much better than just answering questions over the phone about my disability. The MATAplus assessment center in person appointments  are  only done on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  If you have any questions about the process please contact the MATAplus assessment center at 901-722-7100 and follow the directions.