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Disability advocates urge Vermont Senate committee to "write disability rights into every bill" and expand accessible voting
Summary
Advocates from the Vermont Center for Independent Living and Disability Rights Vermont told the Senate Government Operations Committee on Feb. 11 that the state should require Australian ballots, offer hybrid meetings, standardize ADA accommodation procedures, and protect confidential accommodation requests to improve voting and civic access for people with disabilities.
Advocates from the Vermont Center for Independent Living and Disability Rights Vermont told the Senate Government Operations Committee on Feb. 11 that Vermont should "write disability rights into every bill," adopt Australian ballots statewide for municipal elections, and require hybrid meeting options to make public participation more accessible.
The testimony, delivered by Sarah Laundredell, executive director of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, and Laura Cushman, an attorney with Disability Rights Vermont, urged the committee to treat accessibility as a baseline for legislation and administrative practice rather than an afterthought. They asked legislators to review pending bills through a disability lens and proposed specific statutory changes to improve access to voting, public meetings and emergency services.
Laundredell told the committee that disability rights should be embedded in how government operates, saying, "The theme for this year's Disability Advocacy Day is write disability…
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