Advocates say many D.C. vote centers and ballot drop boxes remain inaccessible; Board of Elections outlines fixes

Disability Rights DC told the Council’s Committee on Executive Administration and Labor on Feb. 19 that surveys of the District’s vote centers and ballot drop boxes during the 2024 election cycle found persistent accessibility problems that can prevent voters with disabilities from voting in person or using ballot drop boxes.

Lindsay Niles, managing attorney at Disability Rights DC (DRDC) at University Legal Services, said DRDC surveyed all vote centers during the June 2024 primary and nearly all vote centers during the November 2024 general election. She summarized the findings: “During the entire 2024 election cycle, DRDC surveys found 12 unique vote centers to be structurally inaccessible,” and operational inaccessibility was widespread, including “failing to provide accessible parking, failing to appropriately place adequate signage, and failing to staff curbside voting areas.”

DRDC provided more precise figures in its testimony: during the June 2024 primary, 10.67 percent of vote centers were structurally inaccessible and 70 percent operationally inaccessible; in the November 2024 general election, DRDC reported 61.64 percent (45 of 73) of surveyed vote centers were inaccessible, with 20 (12.32%) structurally inaccessible and 55% operationally inaccessible. DRDC also found an increase in structurally inaccessible ballot drop boxes (from 1 in the 2022 cycle to 7 in the 2024 general election) and noted other drop boxes with unstable approaches or obstructions.

DRDC urged relocation of vote centers that pose structural barriers and remediation of operational barriers “to ensure accessibility to all voters with disabilities” prior to the 2026 elections and an upcoming special election in summer 2025. The group singled out Powell Elementary School for repeated problems: DRDC said the site has “a very large, steep, and non ADA compliant ramp.”

Monica Evans, executive director of the D.C. Board of Elections, told the committee the board is reviewing DRDC’s findings and working with partner agencies. On returned mail ballots marked undeliverable, Evans said the causes are mixed: “Some of the ballots we have received returned as undeliverable were, absolutely deliverable and we have confirmed that they were valid addresses. We also have instances where voters incorrectly provide us with their address, and in some instances we have an address but not a unit number.” She said the board’s list-maintenance work and voter messaging have reduced undeliverable mail returns since 2022.

Evans described steps BOE takes when in-person access problems are identified at set-up: temporary ramps, removing obstructions, and working with facility managers to ensure doors remain open or are otherwise accessible on Election Day. She also said some accessibility problems happen late — for example, when site construction, removed bricks or other changes occur after the board’s initial accessibility review — and stressed the importance of interagency coordination.

Why it matters: accessible vote centers and drop boxes are required under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the federal Help America Vote Act. Structural barriers can keep registered voters from voting in person or using drop boxes, and operational lapses (missing signage, unstaffed curbside services) can deny otherwise eligible voters an equal opportunity to cast ballots.

What's next: DRDC asked the committee to monitor BOE’s remedial work and interagency coordination to fix structural barriers before 2026; BOE said it will continue accessibility reviews, remediation with partner agencies, and messaging to encourage voters to check and update registration records. DRDC asked for relocation of drop boxes that are structurally inaccessible, and BOE said it would review placement decisions and report back to the committee.