Voters with Special Needs

Per Florida Statute 101.051, a voter who needs assistance to vote must fill out a Declaration to Secure Assistance. An election official can assist, but if the voter brings a person to provide assistance, that person must fill out a Declaration to Provide Assistance. Both of these forms are available at the voting location.

• View a sample copy of a Declaration to Secure Assistance
• View a sample copy of a Declaration to Provide Assistance

The National Voter Registration Act, also known as the Motor Voter Act, came to be so that people could register to vote more easily. It was also written to help boost the number of minority voters and the number of voters with disabilities.

The Motor Voter Act requires all offices of state-funded programs that provide services to persons with disabilities to also provide them with voter registration applications, to assist them with completing the applications, and to send the completed applications to the proper state official. For more information, call 305-499-8363.

You can register to vote at the following locations:

• Department of Motor Vehicles Driver's License Offices
• Miami-Dade County Public Libraries
• Youth and Family Services (Public Assistance Offices)

The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act requires that voting locations are set up so that people with disabilities can enter, vote, and exit with relative ease during federal elections. The law also requires that telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs), which are also known as teletypewriters (TTYs), are available.

• All polling places are handicap accessible.
• Vote-by-mail voting is available to all voters upon proper request.
• Accessible telecommunication is available at 305-499-8480 (voice/TTY).

The Voting Rights Act has provisions that ensures that every voter could register to vote, easily enter and exit the polling location, and have easy access to a voting booth. Also, the Voting Rights Act requires that ballots don't discriminate against blind or visually-impaired people, or people who can't read English.

• All polling places are equipped with at least one ADA touchscreen voting machine
• How to use the ExpressVote Voting Machine
• All ballots and election-related materials are available in three languages: English, Spanish and Creole

In addition:

• Polling places are staffed with bilingual workers to provide voter assistance
• Voters may choose an individual to assist them with voting
• Read the Voter Information Guide (Español) (Kreyòl)

Miami-Dade County offers voters with a qualified disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) the option to receive an accessible vote by mail ballot by email. This may further allow voters to cast their ballot independently without the assistance of another person. Voters must request the ballot using the Accessible Vote-by-Mail Electronic Ballot Request Form. This is a PDF fillable form that will need to be filled in, printed, signed and returned to us. The voter can also request the form online and follow the instructions.