In this presidential election, some blind voters will be marking their
ballots in secret for the first time, as the article below explains. I'm
curious about the experience for those who had the opportunity to use one
of the machines described in the article. If you have used one of the
machines, please share your experience.
kelly
The New York Times
November 2, 2000
Seeing-Eye Democracy
By MINDY SINK
DURING this election season, some blind and visually impaired
voters will be able to cast their ballots in private for the first
time using an electronic voting system that has been adapted for
use by the disabled.
Geneva Teagarden of Fort Worth cast her first secret ballot in
early voting last month with the system, which uses a modified
portable computer called the eSlate. Previously, Mrs. Teagarden,
who is legally blind, had had the ballot read to her as she made
her choices.
"It sounds silly, but it made the hair on the back of my neck stand
up," she said, describing her first private vote. "I didn't realize
what a privilege it is to have that right to privacy."
The eSlate system is one of several aids for the disabled that are
being tested this year in some states. The eSlate, developed by
Hart InterCivic of Austin, Tex., is being used in Tarrant County,
where Mrs. Teagarden lives. It is also being tried in another
county, which includes parts of Houston, and in two counties in
Colorado. The machines have been in use since early voting began in
these jurisdictions. (Early voting is available to all registered
voters in 13 states. The option, which dates to 1988, is intended
to increase turnout.)
An eSlate is a tablet-size computer with a large display screen and
large buttons for scrolling through ballot choices and recording
votes, which are stored in memory for later downloading.
The eSlate can be used by anyone, but because it can sit on a
tabletop or be held in the hands, it is especially useful for
people in wheelchairs. For the blind or visually impaired, an
add-on speech synthesizer is used. The machines cost about $2,500
each, and the synthesizer is another $1,000.
In California, voters in some jurisdictions are using an electronic
system developed by another Texas company, Global Election Systems,
that has been adapted for use by the blind. And blind voters in
Rhode Island and Nevada will have audio services available when
they cast their votes on Election Day.
Eight counties in California are experimenting with early voting
this year and are also testing electronic voting machines made by
Global Election Systems of McKinney, Tex., in some precincts. The
AccuVote-TS has a touch screen and a 12-key pad, like a push-button
telephone's, that can be adapted for audio use with a headset and
be used by the blind.
"We found that blind people are familiar with the phone pad, even
more than they are with reading Braille," said Larry Ensminger,
vice president for business development at Global Election Systems.
Curtis Chong, technology director of the National Federation of the
Blind in Baltimore, said the eSlate is the machine favored by his
organization and many blind people like himself who have tested it
along with other machines.
"ESlate is one of the first systems that is being marketed as a
viable, real product you can buy today," Mr. Chong said. "Other
machines had weaknesses like touch screens that could not verify if
you had marked the right place on the ballot. With e- Slate you can
hear it click as it rolls through the settings."
In Baltimore, where Mr. Chong votes, blind voters can use the
services of a human reader or a partial Braille ballot. Mr. Chong
said it is difficult to ignore voice inflections of readers whether
a friend, a spouse or an elections judge while making ballot
decisions.
The eSlate "cuts across every demographic because of its ease of
use," said Neil McClure, vice president of the election solutions
group at Hart InterCivic in Colorado.
"It's like a laptop," Mr. McClure said, "but you don't have to know
how to use a computer. People are saying it's easy and even fun to
use."
In Texas, legislation was signed last year requiring all ballot
equipment to be accessible by the disabled, and lever machines and
punch card technology can no longer be purchased (most are no
longer manufactured). The use, design and purchase of voting
systems is usually governed by the secretary of state and done on a
county by county basis.
"This is the next generation of voting equipment technology that is
becoming available as computerized systems become more efficient
and less expensive," said Jerry Meadows, senior vice president of
the election solutions group at Hart InterCivic.
According to the Disability Statistics Center in San Francisco,
there are more than 30 million disabled Americans of voting age.
The National Federation of the Blind estimates that 1.1 million of
those voters are blind or visually impaired.
John Novotny, 43, of Breckenridge, Colo., is one of a handful of
disabled voters in Summit County, which is also testing the eSlate
system. He often voted with the assistance of a friend who read the
ballot to him. He recently voted with the eSlate.
"I got to cast my own ballot," he said, "with the same right as
every person in the United States, as is guaranteed under the
Constitution."
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