02/20/2026
Vote NO on the SAVE Act!
โThe SAVE Act has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is now headed to the U.S. Senate. If enacted, it would create new federal barriers that disproportionately harm voters with disabilities โ including right here in Illinois.
In Illinois, approximately 1.3 million eligible voters have a disability.
Disabled voters already face systemic barriers to participation, including inaccessible polling locations, transportation challenges, and difficulties obtaining needed assistance. National research shows that disabled voters are three times more likely to encounter problems casting a ballot than nondisabled voters.
Illinois has made meaningful progress in expanding access to voting.
Vote-by-mail has long been available to any registered Illinois voter. In 2022, Equip for Equality, in collaboration with our partners, drafted and successfully advocated for passage of legislation in Illinois to provide a remote, accessible vote-by-mail system for voters with print disabilities โ including blindness, low vision, physical dexterity limitations, and certain cognitive or learning disabilities. This system allows voters to receive, mark, and verify their ballots electronically using their own assistive technology.
The SAVE Act would move us in the opposite direction.
The bill would:
ยท Limit access to vote-by-mail for people with disabilities and others
ยท Restrict who may assist a voter with a disability โ and potentially criminalize assistance
ยท Require hard-to-obtain documents, such as passports or birth certificates, to register or update voter registration
Simply put: The SAVE ACT will create new and formidable barriers for eligible voters with disabilities.
Accessible voting is not a convenience. It is a civil right protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act and reinforced by the Help America Vote Act.
Illinois has worked to expand access. The Senate must not reverse that progress.
Contact Your U.S. Senators
ยท Senator Dick Durbin
ยท Senator Tammy Duckworth
Simple Script
Hello, my name is [NAME], and I live in [CITY], Illinois.
Iโm calling to urge Senator [Durbin/Duckworth] to oppose the SAVE Act.
In Illinois, about 1.3 million eligible voters have a disability. Disabled voters already face significant barriers, and this bill would make voting by mail harder, restrict assistance, and add burdensome documentation requirements.
Please protect accessible voting and vote NO on the SAVE Act.
Thank you.โ
