Mary sends along her experience to me which she obviously intended for
the whole group.  it is a great example of how pro-active local
involvement in existing organizations can have an important impact on
ensuring access and usability of services and the voting process.  Yes
asking tough questions may not be easy and the exchange of queries and
responses with officials can be painful at times.  However, in the end,
shrug off labels of pest because the end result of access for all is well
worth the effort.

If folks in Florida this past summer asked some highly specific and
probing questions as Mary did in suburban Atlanta, they might have
avoided the chaos that occurred in south Florida in September when the
Democratic primary for governor was thrown into question when thousands
of voters were turned away from the polls, machines were not turned on or
off properly, ballots went unaccounted, and voters and poll workers did
not know how to use the machines.  Florida experienced a repeat of the
2000 election despite all the new technology.

Perhaps Mary can update us on Tuesday about her experience at the polls
to see if the promises were kept and voting was easy and accessible with
no hassles.

Kelly




From: "Mary P.Blanton" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 03, 2002 5:46 PM


Well, I became a member of a political group in Forsyth County, Georgia
because the Chairman of the Board of Elections was going to be at a
couple of
the meetings to show off the new machines to be used Tuesday.  I know I
was a
real pain in his rear with all the questions I asked pertaining to the
machines and the Visually Impaired and other disabled voters.  I was
greatly
surprised AND relieved to hear an immediate and GOOD answer to each of my
questions.  The machines can easily be switched into "Large Print" mode.
EVER SINGLE Poll Worker in Forsyth County has been trained on the use of
the
new machines AND how to assist the disabled.  They EACH had SEVERAL days
of
training and had to pass a test afterwards.  The test involved setting up
and
taking down the machines, Zeroing out the machines and cards, assisting
those
with problems,  the disabled and non disabled, etc.  The Chairman brought
some disabled people in to provide the "help" to help the Poll Workers
know
what the most frequent problems / questions would be.  I am proud to say
that
MY County will be one of the MOST problem free in Georgia.  Good for my
County Government.  They set aside the money to make SURE EVERY Poll
Place
was up to snuff to handle the new machines.  (Many were not, but ARE
NOW!)
They also set aside the money for some REAL training for EACH AND EVERY
Poll
Worker.

MaryB.  (Who made SURE she would be able to use the new machines here in
Georgia.)

Kelly Pierce wrote:

> Apparently, more than accessible voting machines are needed to vote
> independently.  Even if a court orders the purchase of accessible
voting
> machines, the local municipality can turn around and say we are not
going
> to use them because blind people and staff need to be trained and we
are
> not going to train them.
>
> Kelly
>
> The Washington Post
>
> Thursday, October 24, 2002
>
> Voting Machines Can't Help Disabled
>
> Lack of Staff Leaves New Technology  Unusable for Now
>
> By David Nakamura
>
> Advocates for the disabled had hoped to unveil high-tech machines in
the
> general election to make voting easier for District residents who are
> blind or have limited hand dexterity. But that will have to wait.
>
> The 150 machines, costing $ 1.2 million, are in place. Volunteers
needed
> to operate the equipment are not. Several advocacy groups were supposed
> to recruit the volunteers under a court settlement this year of a
lawsuit
> brought by the groups against the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics.
The
> suit alleged that the city's current balloting system requires many
> disabled people to have assistance in the voting booth, denying them
the
> right to cast ballots in private.
>
> The city bought the machines, about 30 of which were used in
> demonstrations during the September primary elections. The machines
were
> demonstrated more widely -- at all 140 polling places -- for the
general
> election Nov. 5, but the advocacy groups could not find enough
volunteers
> to run them, officials said.
>
> So the machines will sit dormant this year. They are scheduled to be
used
> for actual voting in the presidential primary of May 2004.
>
> "We weren't able to reach as many people as we'd hoped," said Linda
> Royster, executive director of the Disability Rights Council of Greater
> Washington. "We're unable to pull together enough volunteers to make
the
> demos worthwhile. The board will not assist or provide us with the
> people. To be fair, it's not malicious on their part. They just don't
> have the people."
>
> Under the court settlement, which affects more than 16,000 District
> voters, the city was not required to recruit volunteers or train them
for
> a demonstration next month, city officials said.
>
> However, the city will be responsible for recruiting and training in
> 2004. Board of Elections spokesman Bill O'Field said city officials
will
> try to demonstrate and publicize the new machines before the 2004
> primaries.
>
> Using them, voters who can see but cannot read or write English will
> receive audio instructions and make selections by touching a screen on
a
> desktop-size computer that can handle as many as five languages.
> Sight-impaired voters or those with limited hand movement will receive
> audio instructions and make their selections by pushing a button on a
> separate electronic box attached to the computer.
>
> Royster said her organization and the American Association of People
With
> Disabilities, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, could not offer a
stipend
> to volunteers this November. In contrast, the city will pay poll
workers
> a $ 100 daily stipend.
>
> "Oh, how I wish," Royster said. "We are a very small nonprofit. We
don't
> have that kind of money."
>
> Board of Elections officials said they will pay workers a stipend to
> operate the new machines in 2004 but cannot afford a demonstration next
> month.
>
> "We have always been on the same page," said Kenneth McGhie, general
> counsel to the elections board. "We wanted further [voter]
participation.
> To that extent, [the new machines] are what we both wanted. The only
> thing we ever disagreed on was the timing. The timing was a problem
> because we do not have enough money."
>
> Royster said that both nonprofit organizations asked members to
volunteer
> but that many people said they were too busy. She said she does not
> foresee a problem getting the machines running by the 2004 primary.
>
> The District will be the nation's only jurisdiction to use both the
> optical-scan voting and computerized systems. The city replaced its
> punch-card system with optical-scan balloting last year.
>
> VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
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> [log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply
type
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VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html