Blind voter denied ballot, voting help
By Deb Kelly, The Tribune Star
A Terre Haute man says he is being discriminated against at satellite voting locations because of a disability, and according to federal disability law, he may be right.
TERRE HAUTE — A Terre Haute man says he is being discriminated against at satellite voting locations because of a disability, and according to federal disability law, he may be right.
Steve Tschida, 50, is blind, and needs assistance to vote. State law allows a voter with disabilities to designate a person to assist the voter in voting at an election. The law states that it applies to each precinct location as well as to absentee voting, but the law is not clear as to whether the law applies to satellite voting locations.
On Saturday, Tschida and his wife approached the satellite voting location in The Meadows shopping center on Terre Haute’s east side. When they explained Tschida’s disability and his need for assistance, they were told that he would not be allowed to vote because the law only applies to voting on Election Day, at a polling site.
Tschida said he had the same experience in 2004 at a satellite location, but thought perhaps it had been a fluke.
“The only thing I can say is that it just seems so unfair,” Tschida said during an interview in his home Thursday. “I just don’t understand in this day of equality and fairness in voting how this is the law.”
