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The state is largely rural, with winding roads, which can discourage all voters, said Regina Desmond, senior advocate at Disability Rights of West Virginia. Her group scored a major victory
with the February 2020 signing of a bill allowing state voters with physical disabilities to vote using electronic absentee ballots. The first in the state to try the technology was Terra
Muncy, 56, of Belle, who has rheumatoid arthritis and has used a wheelchair for 18 years. Voting in person, she sometimes found low ballot stations that worked well, she said. "But
sometimes there wasn't one, which means I was having to reach up, and people can see over your head exactly what you're doing,” she said. During the spring primary election, Muncy
was able to cast her ballot using the Democracy Live electronic system on her tablet while sitting on her front porch. She recently used the same system for the general election, this time
via her phone from her kitchen, since it was too cold outside, she said. To vote in person, some voters with disabilities may have to take buses or subways, another challenge. Transit to
polling places may be particularly taxing for Black and Latino voters with disabilities who may not have access to private or public transportation, said King at Auburn University. VOTING
CURBSIDE Doll was undeterred by his blackout and hospital stay. He returned to the Summit County Board of Elections in Akron when he recovered, this time to vote from the comfort of his car.
The board had curbside voting available at the time Doll first tried to vote, but it has expanded the parking sites, added signs about the service and ordered still more signs, said Lance
Reed, the board's director. Doll commended the board staff for bringing a ballot to his car and helping him fill it out, because his hands shook badly, a symptom of Parkinson's.
Yet even if he can vote electronically from home, he said, he would still want to go vote curbside. "I'm old school,” he said of going to a polling place in person. “This makes you
feel more normal, rather than handicapped.” When he finished voting, the staff took the ballot inside to process, he said. “Then they came out and gave me an ‘I voted’ sticker."