Here's a dispatch from Australia about voting access in the country's
capitol territory. It is indeed an innovative endeavor.

Kelly

From: Margaret Verick [log in to unmask]

The ACT Electoral
Commission has announced a "giant step" towards enabling electors
who have a vision impairment to vote independently in elections.

At the next election for the ACT Legislative Assembly, to be held
on October 20, computerised voting will be introduced on a
limited basis for the first time at an Australian parliamentary
election. And, as part of this move to computerisation of the
electoral process, the Commission says it is making a special
effort to enable voters who vision impaired to vote without
assistance.

At the eight polling places where this facility will be
available, voters will be issued with a bar code instead of a
paper ballot. On retiring to a computerised voting booth the
sight-impaired voter will use headphones provided to hear an
audiotape which explains, as the voter tries them, the purpose of
the keys on the keypad. The voter then swipes their barcode and a
ballot paper appears on the screen. By using the marked keys the
voter can move between candidates (whose names are spoken) and
choose their preferences. The numbers will be automatically
inserted into the squares beside the candidates selected by the
voter.

The audio recording informs the voter who they are voting for and
when finished reads a list of candidates in the order they have
chosen. To finish, the voter swipes their barcode once more and
puts their used barcode in the ballot box on the way out of the
polling place. While assistance will be available to voters
should they require it, trials indicate that sight-impaired
electors will be able to input their voting intentions
independently.

Blind Citizens Australia and the ACT Disability Advisory Council
were represented on a reference group, which has worked closely
with Elections ACT in planning and trialing this facility, by
Robert Altamore.

ACT Electoral Commissioner, Mr Phillip Green, said he was proud
to be part of a development which would significantly increase
the independence of sight-impaired citizens in such a basic
matter as the right to vote in private.

Regards Margaret

Margaret Verick Policy Officer (Blindness and Vision Impairment)
ACROD PO Box 60 CURTIN ACT 2605 Phone 02 6282 4333 Fax 02 6281
3488 Email [log in to unmask]


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