[blindlaw] Voter Registration forms not accessible to the blind.

Mon Apr 23 05:13:33 UTC 2012

Also since braille literacy has been greatly reduced in the blind community
due to a lack of education in this arena, making voter registration forms
accessible only as braille is not going to cut it.  And what about the
visually impaired who have similar but different problems with these
documents?  Have you considered all of these mandates?

James Pepper

On Sun, Apr 22, 2012 at 11:54 PM, James Pepper <b75205 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Parts of the National Form are accessible but not all of it and how in the
> world are the blind supposed to locate the two sets of lines on the back of
> the form to draw their map?  You require the voter blind to locate these
> two lines, write in the names of the nearest cross streets and then they
> must draw in their home relative to that intersection with a large X and
> then draw in relative to those locations the nearest police stations,
> schools and other government buildings. Another words this is a literacy
> test, a violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Arkansas insisted on
> this map.
>
> You also have some major problems with the layout that can cause people to
> make the wrong choice and make all of their answers null and void.  Most of
> your form is not accessible and in order to fill out parts of it the blind
> must have the full version of JAWS.  That is a poll tax, a violation of the
> Voting Rights Act.  The entire form should be accessible using free
> software and 4 years ago I presented one to your agency in late August of
> 2008  and 19 days later you all came out with the "accessible form" which
> was not accessible, you just enabled a few form fields to work. The form up
> to September 2008 was an image of a form, even though the EAC was mandated
> by Congress to make voter registration forms accessible to the blind and
> had spent over 1 billion dollars studying the prospects, you didn't get
> around to doing anything about it until 19 days after I sent in my forms
> and your agency wrote that your webmaster was in charge of the voter
> registration forms for the agency.  It was then that I was in contact with
> the Voting Rights Division of the ACLU in Atlanta,.  I have the
> correspondence from that time, I suggest you contact your staff. Later Jim
> Dickson who at the time was the VP of the AAPD presented my forms to the
> EAC but by that time it was too late to use them in the election.
>
> I proceeded to send it to all of the states during this time, starting in
> the Spring of 2008, that is when Arkansas made that statement about the
> blind being able to vote if they got their drivers license.  The State of
> Washington;'s election officer wrote directly that the state was not
> required by law to make voter registration forms accessible to the blind.
> They were required to do this in every major civil rights act since the
> Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  I contacted the ACLU in Washington State and
> they were following up on this problem.
>
> I found that Alabama is the model state for accessibility in elections,
> they have always had a form in braille, imagine that, Alabama.
>
> I have a form that is accessible to the blind, where they can fill it out
> without assistance using free screen readers. No poll tax, no literacy
> test.  Oh and I can do this in Hindi too, just need a translation but I can
> make it speak in Hindi and many other languages including Spanish.
>
> James Pepper
>
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 9:31 AM, Reyazuddin, Yasmin <
> Yasmin.Reyazuddin at montgomerycountymd.gov> wrote:
>
>> Hi Everyone,
>> The voter registration information and related matters could be
>> discussed with the local Board of elections in your county. Here in
>> Montgomery county MD I know the person responsible for outreach  at the
>> Board of elections.
>> I have provided him with all materials (both English and Spanish) in
>> Braille for the last 3 major elections. It is part of my job and the
>> request comes to me. All outreach activities scheduled by the board
>> include a packet with Braille materials. Talk with the outreach person
>> and work with them.
>>
>> Yasmin Reyazuddin
>> Aging & Disability Services
>> Montgomery County Government
>> Department of Health & Human Services
>> 401 Hungerford Drive (3rd floor)
>> Rockville MD 20850
>> 240-777-0311 (MC311)
>> 240-777-1556 (personal)
>> 240-777-1495 (fax)
>> office hours 8:30 am 5:00 pm
>> Languages English, Hindi, Urdu, Braille
>>
>>
>> This message may contain protected health information or other
>> information that is confidential or privileged. If you are not the
>> intended recipient, please contact the sender by return mail and destroy
>> any copies of this material.
>>
>> Thank you.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On Behalf Of randolphc at kbti.org Cabral
>> Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 10:18 AM
>> To: Blind Law Mailing List; Blind Law Mailing List
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Voter Registration forms not accessible to the
>> blind.
>>
>>
>> In Kansas we are presently working with the League of Kansas Voters, the
>>
>> ACLU, the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, and our local
>> county voting commissioner to push for an ammendment of our current
>> legislation.  We have a State Senator, and a State Representative whom
>> we
>> are providing with similar legislation out of New York and Wisconsin to
>> use
>> as a template.  Already we have been contacted by the office of our
>> local
>> voting commisioner to anticipate having voter registration and advanced
>> voting ballots in Braille.
>>
>>
>> Anyone that would like to learn more or wishes to be kept informed
>> please
>> let us know.
>>
>>
>> Randolph Cabral, President
>>
>> Kansas Braille Transcription Institute
>>
>> P.O. Box 48091
>>
>> Wichita, Kansas 67201-8091
>>
>> 316-265-9692  (Office)  9:00 AM - 5:00CST
>>
>> 316-265-0184  (Fax)
>>
>> randolphc at kbti.org
>>
>> www.kbti.org
>>
>>
>> "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." -- Helen Keller
>>
>> ----------------------------------------
>>
>> From: "Blake, Lou Ann" <LBlake at nfb.org>
>>
>> Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 7:58 AM
>>
>> To: "Blind Law Mailing List" <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>>
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Voter Registration forms not accessible to the
>> blind.
>>
>>
>> The National Mail Voter Registration Form is an accessible PDF that may
>> be
>> completed online, printed, and mailed to your state or local board of
>> elections. The form may be used for all stated and territories and it
>> includes instructions on how to complete the form and where to send it.
>> The
>> form may be found on the United States Election Assistance Commissions
>> Web
>> site at: http://www.eac.gov/voter_resources/register_to_vote.aspx. It is
>>
>> available in Spanish and English.
>>
>>
>> Many states do have their voter registration form available as an
>> accessible PDF on their state board of election's Web site. But if your
>> state is not one of these, you can use the National Mail Voter
>> Registration
>> Form.
>>
>>
>> The National Voter Registration Act allows states to register voters
>> when
>> they apply for a state-issued identification card, as well as a
>> state-issue
>> driver's license.
>>
>>
>> Lou Ann Blake, J.D.
>>
>> HAVA Project Manager and Law Symposium Coordinator
>>
>> Jernigan Institute
>>
>> NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
>>
>> 200 East Wells Street
>>
>> at Jernigan Place
>>
>> Baltimore, MD 21230
>>
>> Telephone: (410) 659-9314, ext. 2221
>>
>> Fax: (410) 659-5129
>>
>> E-mail: lblake at nfb.org
>>
>> Web site: www.nfb.org
>>
>>
>> Text the word BLIND to 85944 to donate $10 to the NFB Imagination Fund
>> via
>> your phone bill.
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>
>> From: blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>> On
>> Behalf Of James Pepper
>>
>> Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2012 7:59 PM
>>
>> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
>>
>> Subject: [blindlaw] Voter Registration forms not accessible to the
>> blind.
>>
>>
>> The State of Washington's election officer who is in charge of all
>> voting
>> for the state responded to an inquiry on the accessibility of the Voter
>> Registration form with the following statement in writing:
>>
>> "Remember, too, that federal law requires that voters be able to vote
>> independently; the capability to complete registration applications
>> independently is a desirable goal, but not a legal requirement at this
>> time."
>>
>>
>> I thought they were required to make voter registration forms accessible
>> to
>> the blind, in every major civil rights bill since the Voting Rights Act.
>>
>> Also the Election officer at the State of Arkansas said over the phone
>> that
>> the blind can register to vote when they get their drivers licenses.
>>
>>
>> James Pepper
>>
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>
>