Mother Jones; Getty
When Daniel Francis enters a voting booth, ballot measures can be very anxiety-inducing: many are above his reading level.
“If it’s using words that I don’t understand, I just kind of rush on to answer, whether I know what it means or not,” says Francis, who lives with mental disabilities including autism and ADHD. Francis likes voting at the polls without assistance, as it’s a way for him to feel independent.
Having accessible ballots “would empower more people to be able to vote without assistance.”
A Ballotpedia analysis of ballot measures voted on in 2023 found that, on average, they required a graduate-school reading level to understand. That can be a challenge for most people who haven’t pursued higher education, let alone people with intellectual…