United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2008-01-31 monographic deposited born digital 30 p. GA 1.13:GAO-08-442T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-442T P0b002ee180398606 f:d08442t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-442T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-442T GAO-08-442T Accessibility Aid for the disabled Data collection Data integrity Elderly persons Elections Federal/state relations Performance measures Persons with disabilities Program evaluation Systems evaluation Voting Voting systems Testimony A80333 Voting is fundamental to our democratic system, and federal law generally requires polling places for federal elections to be accessible to older voters and voters with physical disabilities. Following reports of problems encountered in the close 2000 presidential election with respect to voter registration lists, absentee ballots, ballot counting, and antiquated voting systems, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) was enacted. Among other provisions, HAVA includes requirements for the accessibility of voting systems, effective January 1, 2006. In the past, GAO has published several reports on issues related to voting access for older voters. Our prior work, including on-site inspections of a national sample of polling places in election year 2000, a comprehensive review of the election system in 2004, and a review of transportation issues facing seniors, has identified a number of potential barriers to voting for older Americans, as well as accommodations and progress in a number of areas. Drawing from prior work, GAO's testimony will focus on (1) a variety of factors that affect the ability of older voters to travel to polling places, cast their votes in the voting room, or avail themselves of alternative voting provisions and (2) trends and changes regarding the accessibility of polling places and alternative voting methods. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-442T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-442T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-442T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-442T.pdf GAO-08-442T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-08-442T Testimony GAO-08-442T; Elderly Voters: Some Improvements in Voting Accessibility from 2000 to 2004 Elections, but Gaps in Policy and Implementation Remain; Accessibility Aid for the disabled Data collection Data integrity Elderly persons Elections Federal/state relations Performance measures Persons with disabilities Program evaluation Systems evaluation Voting Voting systems