National Federation of the Blind v. Lamone
State: Maryland
Filed: 2015
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Overview: The brief argued that the Maryland Board of Elections’ refusal to use an accessible online ballot marking tool in the absentee voting process violates Title II of the ADA.
Excerpt: “Appellants’ arguments, if accepted by this Court, threaten to undermine the purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act in contexts far outside the realm of absentee voting in Maryland. Appellants turn the phrase ‘meaningful access’ on its head, defining it not as the equality of opportunity guaranteed by the statutes and their implementing regulations, but instead as essentially ‘some sort of access to some part of the program.’ This somehow-somewhere standard would significantly reduce the ability of people with disabilities to participate fully and independently in society.”
