My brother, Vito Angelo Lazo, is autistic and needs a routine in order to make sense of his day. He gets flustered easily when his schedule for the day is disrupted.

Every Saturday, he and our mother go to Costco to buy the family food for the week, to the library to return his books and videos, and then home, where they do the laundry.

This October, Vito voted early in the presidential election by mail. Because he is autistic, my brother faces difficulties during election season. Making sense of the 17 different propositions on California’s ballot was incredibly tedious and required my mother’s help. She had to patiently read out every pamphlet and every candidate’s name and background in order for him to understand.

The whole process took at least three hours.

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Photo by Ira Lazo/Contributor