Many Churches Aren’t Accessible—Here’s Why That’s a Problem for Voters – By Mike Ervin (The Progressive) / May 10, 2024
Churches account for 20 percent of all polling places in the United States, but religious entities are exempt from the ADA.
Churches are exempt from following the access mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Yeah, I know that sucks. There’s no reason why churches shouldn’t have to obey that law, just like everybody else. Some activists have made it their mission to persuade the leaders of houses of worship to make their churches accessible anyway. I wish them luck, but I’ve never been inclined to do much more than that to support their efforts.
I didn’t think this was a very important issue because I don’t really care if my local churches are accessible or not. I stopped going to church many decades ago, so I’m actually glad to have inaccessibility as an excuse for staying away. It’s like boycotting a product I would never buy anyway—even if the manufacturer immediately gives in to all the demands, I’m still not going to buy it.
But I’ve changed my mind. Recently, some people have pointed out that the inaccessibility of churches is a voter suppression issue. That’s because, according to Christianity Today, 20 percent of the more than 60,000 polling places in the United States are in churches. Thirteen states had 25 percent or more of their polling places located in churches for the 2022 election. And if any of those polling places are located in an inaccessible church, or in an inaccessible area of the church building (such as the basement), then that polling place is also inaccessible.
CONTINUE > https://progressive.org/latest/many-churches-arent-accessible-ervin-20240510/
