Thought that some of you might have an interest in reading this.

Anthony

>
>
>Below please find an excellent editorial by the New York Times,
>titled "Voting with Disabilities."  The editorial makes a strong
>pronouncement about the importance of accessible voting, both
>in terms of meeting the ADA's goals and those of the 17-year-old
>Congressional law encouraging accessibility.  The Times argues
>that any election reform in the wake of the 2000 Presidential
>Election should include requirements for accessibility rather
>than mere encouragement.  Use this editorial as ammunition in
>local efforts to make voting more accessible.
>
>
>=====================
>
>
>The New York Times
>August 18, 2001
>
>"Voting With Disabilities"
>
>The fact that the nation's elections are not quite state-of-the-art
>may have come as a surprise to many Americans in the aftermath of
>last November's presidential vote. But it was hardly news to the
>millions of citizens with disabilities, who for years have been
>struggling to get local election officials to grant them equal
>access to the polls. Congress must address their concerns as it
>takes up election reform this fall.
>
>Some states have found that more than 40 percent of their polling
>places are not fully accessible. Even where polls are accessible,
>the ballot most often is not, at least not for blind voters to cast
>a secret vote on their own. To make matters worse, poorly trained
>poll workers often deny these individuals their right to designate
>the person they would like to help them in the voting booth.
>
>The Americans With Disabilities Act, the 11- year-old law that has
>improved access to public places for disabled people, does not
>presently cover all voting places and practices. Hence the need for
>election reform legislation to mandate equal access. President Bush
>should support a strong federal role in protecting the disability
>community's voting rights. He had a strong record on this issue as
>governor of Texas. In 1999 he signed a bill that requires any new
>voting systems purchased in the state to be fully accessible.
>Recently Harris County, the nation's third-largest, spent $25
>million to replace its old punch-card machines with an electronic
>system with audible features that enable blind voters to cast a
>ballot unassisted.
>
>Texas has made great strides, but the federal government must
>compel action elsewhere. The rights of voters with disabilities to
>cast a ballot and have it count must not hinge on where they happen
>to live.
>
>People with disabilities should also benefit from broader election
>reforms designed to protect everyone's vote, such as the right to
>cast a provisional ballot and better-trained poll workers. But the
>community's difficulties in removing barriers to polling places
>should give pause to those who argue that state and local
>governments ought to be encouraged, rather than required, to make
>changes. After all, Congress has already passed a law encouraging
>local election officials to make polling places accessible. That
>was 17 years ago.
>
>
>
>
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--
Diane N. Bryen, Ph.D.
Professor and Executive Director
Institute on Disabilities/UAP
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215/204-1356
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http://www.temple.edu/inst_disabilities

Partner in the RERC on Augmentative Communication funded by NIDRR
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