Good Morning:

FYI!!

This article was found at
http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2002/0401/web-blind-04-03-02.asp

Take care,

Chris


Alaska OKs electronic ballot for blind
BY Dibya Sarkar
April 3, 2002 Printing?

A new Alaska law allowing for electronic ballots eventually may help
blind and visually impaired voters in the state to cast their ballots
without assistance, enabling them to keep their votes secret.

Last month, Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles signed H.B. 320, permitting the
state Division of Elections to provide technology for blind and visually
impaired voters so they can cast "private, independent and verifiable
ballots," according to the legislation.

The estimated 12,500 blind voters in the state have had to rely on other
people to cast their ballots for them in the booth.

"We believe we have the highest per capita number of folks who are blind
in Alaska," said Janet Kowalski, director of Division of Elections. That
doesn't include the members of the voting population who are visually
impaired. "Our goal here has always been to treat voters the same," she
said. "What the legislation says is that anytime the Division of
Election buys electronic balloting equipment, it must be
disabled-accessible." The law was passed quickly and had bipartisan
support, she added.

Kowalski said the state planned to test some machines during the general
election in November, but deploying the technology statewide may take
some time. Some new technologies include devices that enable voters to
navigate their choices with an electronic button while listening on a
headset. Kowalski said the state had considered Internet voting, but
security was an issue.

The state legislature is considering a capital improvement fund to help
pay for electronic voting machines, but it is too early in the process,
she said.

"The Alaska Division of Elections has not been open to some of these
technologies in the past because they were extremely time-intensive and
expensive," she said. "With the revolution in technology, it's just far
easier for election administrators to put these machines in place."

There are 452 polling places statewide, and about 97 percent of them use
optical scanning machines. At the other 3 percent, ballots are
hand-counted.

Although the balloting controversies in Florida during the 2000
presidential election helped spur passage of the bill, advocates have
been pushing for secret balloting for blind and visually impaired voters
for a decade. The Alaska bill is also known as the Frank Haas Act,
commemorating a longtime advocate for visually impaired people in
Alaska.

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