FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 5, 2026
CONTACT:
Josh Ryf, Digital Administrator
737-295-0780
jryf@drtx.org
Federal lawsuit filed against Harris County says those in military and overseas, and even astronauts in outer space, can use electronic ballots—but not disabled voters
HOUSTON—Earlier this week, a group of Harris County voters who are blind and have print disabilities, together with the National Federation of the Blind of Texas (NFB-TX), filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Harris County and County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth challenging the county’s failure to provide remote accessible vote-by-mail (RAVBM) ballots for blind and other voters who cannot read or complete paper ballots.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, alleges violations of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Attorneys for the plaintiffs are Disability Rights Texas (DRTx) and Brown Goldstein & Levy LLP.
Individual plaintiffs include Cedric Bryant, Ted Galanos, Louis Maher, and Michael McCulloch, all registered Harris County voters who are blind and/or have other disabilities that prevent them from independently holding, reading, marking, or handling paper ballots. They are joined by organizational plaintiff NFB-TX, an affiliate of the Baltimore-based National Federation of the Blind.
The plaintiffs filed this complaint not just on their own behalf, but on behalf of all registered Harris County voters with print disabilities, and will seek class certification to represent that entire group in this lawsuit.
“Voting is a fundamental right essential to full and equal participation in American society, and that right necessarily includes the ability to cast a ballot privately and independently, without fear of disclosing our vote to others or having our ballot tampered with,” said Norma Crosby, president of NFB-TX. “Harris County already provides electronic ballots to military and overseas voters and even astronauts in outer space. There is no lawful or practical reason to deny the same access to blind and print-disabled voters here at home. We are merely demanding the secret ballot that other voters already have and are guaranteed by law.”
“The National Federation of the Blind has fought for, and won, the equal right to a secret and secure ballot elsewhere in Texas and beyond,” said Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind. “We will not stop our advocacy until every blind or print-disabled American can cast their ballot with complete privacy and independence.”
Under Harris County’s current system, vote-by-mail ballots are provided only in paper form. As a result, voters who are blind or have print disabilities must rely on sighted assistants to read and mark their ballots, sacrificing privacy and independence and violating Texas law, which guarantees a secret ballot.
Blind and print-disabled voters regularly use access technologies—such as text-to-speech screen readers, Braille displays, mouth-stick styluses, and adaptive switches—to independently access digital devices and electronic documents. If Harris County provided ballots that could be marked and returned electronically with these technologies, these voters could complete them without assistance.
“All the clients are asking is to have equal access to the fundamental right to vote without having to depend on others for assistance,” said DRTx Supervising Attorney Sashi Nisankarao. “DRTx was in conversations with the county for over a year in an effort to allow the county to voluntarily implement RAVBM for voters with print disabilities, but these conversations ended abruptly during the November 2024 Election.”
The lawsuit also points out that Harris County previously offered an RAVBM system for military and overseas voters and has successfully transmitted electronic ballots to astronauts on space missions, including Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were stranded for several months aboard the International Space Station. In addition, Bexar County, Texas, was ordered by a federal court in 2023 to provide accessible electronic ballots to blind voters as a result of a similar lawsuit.
Despite repeated requests from DRTx and advocates for blind voters, Harris County has refused to extend its electronic ballot system to voters with print disabilities. In October 2024, after individual plaintiff Michael McCulloch requested an accessible ballot as an accommodation, the County Clerk’s Office denied the request, asserting that no such ballot existed and that Texas law prohibited electronic ballots for disabled voters.
“That assertion is simply wrong,” said Eve Hill, Attorney at Brown Goldstein & Levy LLP. “Federal disability rights laws require public entities to provide auxiliary aids and services, including accessible electronic documents, when necessary to ensure equal access. Accessible electronic ballots are readily available and already in use in Texas and many other jurisdictions.”
The plaintiffs are asking the federal court to order Harris County to implement an accessible electronic vote-by-mail system, declare the current paper-only system unlawful, and award attorneys’ fees and costs.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from DRTx and the Baltimore firm Brown Goldstein & Levy LLP.
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The National Federation of the Blind, headquartered in Baltimore, defends the rights of blind people of all ages and provides information and support to families with blind children, older Americans who are losing vision, and more. Founded in 1940, the NFB is the transformative membership and advocacy organization of blind Americans with affiliates, chapters, and divisions in the fifty states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. We believe in the hopes and dreams of blind people and work together to transform them into reality. Learn more about NFB’s programs and initiatives at nfb.org.
Disability Rights Texas is the federally designated legal protection and advocacy agency (P&A) for people with disabilities in Texas established in 1977. Its mission is to help people with disabilities understand and exercise their rights under the law, ensuring their full and equal participation in society. Learn more at www.DRTx.org.
Founded in 1982, Brown Goldstein & Levy is a law firm based in Baltimore, Maryland, with an office in Washington, D.C. The firm is nationally recognized in a wide variety of practice areas, including complex civil and commercial litigation, civil rights, health care, family law, and criminal defense. Above all else, Brown Goldstein & Levy is a client-centered law firm that brings decades of experience and passionate, effective advocacy to your fight for justice. Learn more at browngold.com.