(Radio Iowa) – Advocates say they’re concerned Iowa’s new election laws put up more barriers for voters with disabilities. Catherine Johnson, executive director of Disability Rights Iowa, says Republican state lawmakers shortened the early voting period, moved up the deadlines for requesting and returning an absentee ballot, and changed the rules for who can help a voter return a ballot.

“All of those have a big impact on the disability community and their ability to vote,” Johnson says. “It begins to chill the desire of the disability community to go to the polling place to continue to vote.” Johnson says the wide-ranging changes made by legislators to Iowa’s election laws could be especially problematic to people with disabilities, particularly the changes in voting periods.

“Seventy-four percent of voters with a disability do vote early, either early at the polling place or by absentee mail ballot,” Johnson says, “and so you can see when you restrict the time of that shorter and shorter and shorter, the ability to participate for a person with a disability becomes more narrow.” Bill Kallestad, with the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council, agrees with Johnson.

Kallestad says voting laws should be more flexible and simple so more people can participate. Iowans who want help voting can contact their county auditor to ask about curbside voting, Election Day voter assistance, and the new rules for having someone else return a voter’s absentee ballot.

(Reporting by Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)