Voting with a disability in Puerto Rico: accessible precinct, home voting and voting by phone

The CEE runs an affirmative-action programme to make voting easier for electors with disabilities, administered by the Absentee and Early Voting Administrative Board, known as JAVAA. JAVAA is the Commission division with Institutional Balance in charge of administering, receiving, processing and adjudicating absentee and early voting in its various modalities: voting by mail, in-person early voting, voting in penal and juvenile institutions including the federal prison, voting in hospital institutions, and voting at home. Its stated objective is to comply with the Electoral Code and the applicable federal statutes, among them the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and the MOVE Act.

The CEE publishes two definitions worth reading literally. Elector with a Physical Disability: any elector with a physical disability or who is blind and who, during the fifty days before a vote and up to the day of it, has been and will continue using a wheelchair, crutches, equipment or devices essential for mobility; or who has an evident limitation moving on their legs, even without using a support device. Elector with Accessible Home Voting: any elector with disabilities or evident mobility limitation, or bedridden with a medical condition preventing them from attending their polling place, or any elector aged eighty or over; the CEE notes that as of the 2020 Electoral Cycle they are also entitled to claim early voting as the system guaranteeing they can vote privately and independently. That “any elector aged eighty or over” requires no diagnosis at all.

• For the Accessible Precinct: downloading the application, filling it in and emailing it signed to JAVAA at java@cee.pr.gov.Verified against the official source
• The application can be made by the elector themselves or by a relative, at the JIP or through the website.Verified against the official source
• Filing it on or before the Electoral Closing date the CEE calendars for that event.Verified against the official source
• For absentee and early voting generally, the application is filed for each vote: absentee on or before 45 days prior to the voting day, and early voting on or before 50 days prior.Verified against the official source
• Being an active elector in the CEE’s Electoral Registry and in no other jurisdiction, and being domiciled in Puerto Rico.Verified against the official source

• The corresponding application, downloaded from the CEE portal, filled in and signed. Applications become available, once the Commission calendars the dates, on the agency’s website or at the Permanent Registration Boards.

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   Step 1: If you can go but moving is hard: request the Accessible Precinct

   You can request assignment to the Accessible Precinct of your voting centre — your school — to guarantee the greatest accessibility in the process. The application is downloaded, filled in and emailed signed to JAVAA at java@cee.pr.gov. You or a relative can go to the JIP or use the website to request that service, on or before the Electoral Closing date the CEE calendars for that event.

2. 2

   Step 2: Ask for the tools: they are in every unit

   On election day, every unit has assistive tools for electors with disabilities who request them, so they can vote privately and independently: braille templates for blind electors, a magnifier that enlarges the ballot text, a removable ramp at the voting centre entrance, and wide booths that admit wheelchairs, walkers and similar equipment. You have to ask for them.

3. 3

   Step 3: You can bring your own equipment

   Electors who own other assistive technology for their personal use are authorized by the CEE to bring it to the voting centre. You do not have to leave at home what you use every day.

4. 4

   Step 4: If you cannot go: four modalities

   The Commission offers four: early voting by mail; early voting at home; early voting at the precinct; and voting by phone at home or at the Accessible Precinct on general election day. Which one fits depends on your situation, and the application is processed the same way, through JAVAA.

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   Step 5: Check whether you fall in one of the two categories

   Elector with a Physical Disability: any elector with a physical disability or who is blind and who, during the fifty days before the vote and up to the day of it, has been and will continue using a wheelchair, crutches, equipment or devices essential for mobility, or who has an evident limitation moving on their legs even without a support device. Elector with Accessible Home Voting: any elector with disabilities or evident mobility limitation, or bedridden with a medical condition preventing them from attending their precinct, or any elector aged eighty or over. That last one asks for no diagnosis: age is enough.

6. 6

   Step 6: If you damage the ballot, ask for another

   If by accident or mistake you damage the ballot, you have the right to ask the precinct officer for another of the same category, returning the damaged one. The limit is firm: no more than two ballots per category or candidacy can be issued.

7. 7

   Step 7: If you requested ballots by mail and they do not arrive

   If JAVAA approved your application and notified you of the mailing but the ballots do not arrive, you can contact JAVAA, which will assess and decide whether a second mailing applies. The CEE publishes phone (787) 764-5601 and email java@cee.pr.gov for that. And you do not have to pay postage: JAVAA has earmarked funds to send you the ballots and pre-addressed envelopes; if you are somewhere remote outside the United States, the CEE recommends checking with your local post office whether an additional cost applies.

The application is emailed signed to the Absentee and Early Voting Administrative Board (JAVAA) at java@cee.pr.gov, or processed at a Permanent Registration Board, open Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. JAVAA also receives postal mail at P.O. Box 192359, San Juan, P.R. 00919.

• Not asking for the tools: braille templates, magnifier, ramp and wide booths are in every unit, but for electors who request them.
• Leaving your own assistive equipment at home: the CEE authorizes bringing it to the voting centre.
• Believing a diagnosis is needed at 80: the Accessible Home Voting category covers any elector aged eighty or over.
• Waiting until the last moment: the application must be in on or before the Electoral Closing the CEE calendars, and the general terms are 45 days for absentee and 50 for early voting.
• Thinking the elector must file it personally: you or a relative can, at the JIP or online.
• Asking for a third ballot after damaging the second: no more than two per category can be issued.
• Paying postage for mail voting: JAVAA has earmarked funds for the ballots and pre-addressed envelopes.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Comisión Estatal de Elecciones (CEE)

  CEE

  ww2.ceepur.org

• CEE — Absentee and Early Voting Administrative Board (JAVAA)

  Comisión Estatal de Elecciones

  ww2.ceepur.org