Voters are told to hold everything - yes, everything - at some polling places

How lucky Florida is to be run by Republicans. [sarcasm]

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-04-09/news/sfl-voters-banned-from-using-restrooms-20140409_1_polling-places-dubin-voting-rights

April 9, 2014|By Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel

Broward and Palm Beach County voters can rest easy. Elections supervisors in the two counties say they won’t implement the restroom ban imposed by Miami-Dade County.

In the state’s most populous county, voters who need to go while waiting to vote aren’t allowed to do so.

The media office at the Miami-Dade County Elections Department didn’t respond to a request for information about the rule. But it’s detailed by county officials in email exchanges with a disability rights lawyer.

“It’s absolutely stunning,” said Marc Dubin director of advocacy for the Center for Independent Living of South Florida, which serves people with disabilities in Miami-Dade County. He’s a former senior trialattorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was responsible for ADA enforcement.

“It is a current policy of the Department of Elections. It’s in effect right now,” Dubin said.

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Miami-Dade County’s Elections Department implemented the restroom denial policy for everyone after advocates for the disabled sought to ensure that all polling place facilities were accessible to people with disabilities.

A Feb. 14, 2014 email from Assistant County Attorney Shanika Graves states that “the [Elections] the Department’s policy is not to permit access to restrooms at polling sites on election days. Restrooms are open to voters during early voting because early voting is held at public facilities. However, public and private facilities are used as polling sites on election days. Private facilities are governed by private landlords, not the County. This policy was implemented to avoid situations where accessible restrooms would be available to some, but not all voters.”

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In written testimony for the hearing, Dubin said the decision to close restrooms would “undoubtedly reduce the number of voters casting a vote on Election Day, and will significantly further reduce the ability of voters with mobility disabilities to participate in the electoral process…. How many voters, when learning that there is no restroom available, will simply choose not to vote?”

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