## Facts

- Maryland offered no-excuse absentee voting, but absentee ballots had to be marked by hand on paper, signed, and returned by mail or hand delivery.
- Blind voters generally could not complete paper absentee ballots privately and independently and instead had to rely on another person to read and mark the ballot.
- Maryland developed a web-based online ballot-marking tool that allowed voters to access an electronic absentee ballot, mark selections electronically using assistive technology, print the completed ballot, sign it, and return it like any other absentee ballot.
- Independent security reviews concluded the ballot-marking tool satisfied applicable security standards.
- Maryland election officials declined to certify the tool for use in elections, preventing blind voters from using it.
- Blind voters and a disability-rights organization sued under Title II of the ADA and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, alleging denial of equal access to absentee voting.
- After a bench trial, the district court found Maryland’s absentee voting program denied blind voters meaningful access and ordered the State to make the tool available; state election officials appealed.

## Issues

1. Whether Maryland’s refusal to make the online ballot-marking tool available denied blind voters meaningful access to the absentee voting program in violation of Title II of the ADA and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
2. Whether providing access to the tool was a required reasonable modification and/or auxiliary aid, or instead a fundamental alteration or undue burden.
3. Whether Title II’s effective communication requirements obligated Maryland to provide an absentee voting method that is as effective for blind voters as for sighted voters, including the ability to vote privately and independently.

## Decision

- The Fourth Circuit affirmed the judgment for the plaintiffs.
- The court held Maryland violated Title II of the ADA and § 504 by denying blind voters meaningful access to the absentee voting program.
- The court held the online ballot-marking tool was a reasonable modification and an auxiliary aid that Maryland was required to provide.
- The court rejected the State’s claims that the tool would fundamentally alter absentee voting or create unacceptable security risks, and found no undue financial or administrative burden was shown.
- The court upheld the injunction requiring Maryland to make the tool available for blind voters casting absentee ballots.

## Legal Principles

- Title II of the ADA and § 504 require public entities to provide individuals with disabilities meaningful access to governmental services, programs, and activities.
- When a public entity offers a specific program to the public (such as absentee voting), it must provide an equal opportunity for qualified individuals with disabilities to participate in that program; providing access to a different program (such as in-person accessible voting) does not excuse inaccessibility in the offered program.
- Under 28 C.F.R. § 35.160, public entities must ensure communications with individuals with disabilities are as effective as communications with others and must furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services when necessary.
- Under 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(7), a public entity must make reasonable modifications necessary to avoid disability-based exclusion unless it proves a fundamental alteration of the program or an undue burden.
- Speculative or generalized concerns (including security concerns) do not satisfy the public entity’s burden to prove fundamental alteration or undue burden where record evidence supports feasibility and comparable program operation.

## Conclusion

The Fourth Circuit held that Maryland’s paper-only absentee ballot marking process denied blind voters equal, effective access to absentee voting and required the State to provide access to an already-developed, security-reviewed online ballot-marking tool as a reasonable modification and auxiliary aid under federal disability law.


Nat'l Fed'n of the Blind v. Lamone, 813 F.3d 494 (4th Cir. 2016)