From dsmithnfb at gmail.com Fri Oct 19 16:44:27 2012 From: dsmithnfb at gmail.com (Darian Smith) Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:44:27 -0700 Subject: [Ccb-alumni] Voting call this Sunday Message-ID: For everyone, student or not. Greetings fellow blind students and NFB members, In the words of former U.S. president Franklyn D. Roosevelt, ?Nobody will ever deprive American people of the right to vote accept for the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.? As a result, it is the goal of the NABS Membership Committee to ensure that no one deprives themselves of their right to vote because of a lack of information on accessible voting. Thus we want to extend an invitation to take part in our October membership call ?the ABC?s of voting.? Join us on October 21st to hear from Luanne Blake from our national center on how to register to vote, voter rights in terms of completing your ballot independently, and how to file a complaint if your rights are violated. What: The ABC?s of Voting Conference Call Who: Anyone, not just students! When: October 21, 2012 at 7:00 P.M. ET, 4:00 P.M. PT. Where: Conference Call, (530)881-1212 Code: 757-809-541 We look forward to you joining us! The NABS Membership Committee -- Darian Smith "Let's work together to eliminate Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities" http://www.nfb.org/fairwages "To dream what is possible and to put oneself in service of that dream is the formula for a life well lived." - Dr. Peter Benson From dsmithnfb at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 16:02:35 2012 From: dsmithnfb at gmail.com (Darian Smith) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:02:35 -0700 Subject: [Ccb-alumni] Regarding the voting call... Message-ID: Fellow Federationests, On behalf of the membership committee of the National Association of Blind Students, I would like to apologize to all of you who had attempted to call in for the voting call presented by Nabs. We had experienced some technical difficulties with the conference line and were unable to fix them in a timely manner. Please be assured that we have fixed these matters and have rescheduled the voting call for this Tuesday (Tomorrow) at 8 p.m. ET. The information for this call can be found below this note. Greetings fellow blind students and NFB members, In the words of former U.S. president Franklyn D. Roosevelt, ?Nobody will ever deprive American people of the right to vote accept for the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.? As a result, it is the goal of the NABS Membership Committee to ensure that no one deprives themselves of their right to vote because of a lack of information on accessible voting. Thus we want to extend an invitation to take part in our October membership call ?the ABC?s of voting.? Join us on October 23rd to hear from Luanne Blake from our national center on how to register to vote, voter rights in terms of completing your ballot independently, and how to file a complaint if your rights are violated. What: The ABC?s of Voting Conference Call Who: Anyone, not just students! When: October 21, 2012 at 8:00 P.M. ET, 5:00 P.M. PT. Where: Conference Call, (530)881-1212 Code: 757-809-541 We look forward to you joining us! The NABS Membership Committee -- Darian Smith "Let's work together to eliminate Subminimum Wages for People with Disabilities" http://www.nfb.org/fairwages "To dream what is possible and to put oneself in service of that dream is the formula for a life well lived." - Dr. Peter Benson From dsmithnfb at gmail.com Wed Oct 24 18:51:01 2012 From: dsmithnfb at gmail.com (Darian Smith) Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 11:51:01 -0700 Subject: [Ccb-alumni] information from the voting call Message-ID: Hi all, Credit Cindy Bennett for the notes from last nights call. Also, and most importantly, thanks to Lou Ann Blake from the National Center for voting information and Nijat Worley from the National Center for the Newsline information related to this election! Please enjoy the notes and atatched documents. Utilize the information because information is an empowering thing! Access the NFB?s information about accessible voting and materials for running voting drives go to http://nfb.org/hava-intro. Hava was signed into law in 2002. It was a result from the close 2000 election and the confusing ballots. HAVA insures that everyone can vote independently and privately. HAVA covers federal elections only. It states that all polling places must have an accessible voting machine. States that conduct vote by mail does technically fall under HAVA guidelines, but some do not believe it does. HAVA does not cover state elections. HAVA also does not cover absentee voting. A new requirement in some states is the requirement of voters to bring an ID. This brings up issues because some people don?t bother getting an ID if they don?t drive, and some do not have transportation to get one. It is a measure to help prevent voter fraud. Most election law is state law, not federal law. Typically, you must be a citizen and at least 18 years old by Election Day to register to vote. You can register to vote in many ways. Typically public service offices, libraries, the board of elections, etc. have registration forms. Many states have accessible online forms. Go to www.eac.gov There is a national mail voter registration form that can be used if a state does not have an accessible form. You just print and sign it and send it to your state board of elections. Many voter registration periods end 21 days before the actual election. Rights as a blind voter: For federal elections you have the right to vote privately and independently on an accessible machine. HAVA covers early voting as long as it is for a federal election. So if you vote early, your polling place should have a machine. If there is no machine available or if the poll workers don?t know how to set it up or work it, you have the right to file a complaint with your state board of elections. If poll workers are having problems with the machine, it is suggested that you continue to insist that you want to use the machine and stay. But if they take some time and fix it, then they know how to use it and it will be easier in the future. You have the right to take whoever you want with you to assist you to vote if you wish. This can be helpful for state elections that do not have the accessible ballot requirement. If you do not bring anyone, you can ask a poll worker to assist you. They are not to comment on any voting decision you make at any time. File claims about inaccessible machines or the lack thereof. You can and should also file complaints about any poll worker who attempts to influence your decision. Your state protection and advocacy committee. They can assist in filing a complaint and there is no charge. They get federal money to help make sure voting runs smoothly. P&A contact info for each state is available on your local channel of Newsline. A typical voting machine has a touch screen and there is an audio component once headphones are plugged in and you use a keypad to make your entries. There is no time limit. Some states use a vote by phone system but it has to be done at the polling place. Some states have turned to an online ballot marking system. This is typically used for military and overseas citizens, but the NFB and others are advocating the allowance of this method to be extended to people who need an accessible ballot. There are guidelines for the design of accessible voting machines for things like the quality of the audio, the presence of buttons, etc. there are no federal government regulations that are enforced. Most states have regulations though. If your state is looking into transitioning to a vote by mail system, advocate that they do not switch or that they include a more accessible option. ?Get the NFB affiliate involved. Ways to educate poll workers and blind voters You can organize voting drives Volunteer to train poll workers Sign up to be a poll worker Ask someone from the board of elections to bring an accessible machine to a chapter meeting or NFB event The NFB is hosting a blind voter hotline on Election Day. It will be monitored from 7:00 A.M. Eastern Time to 7:00 P.M. Pacific Time. 877.632.1940 Call if poll workers are having trouble setting up the machine, or you are having trouble voting. The league of women voter?s website has nonpartisoned candidate information and registration. Newsline presentation There is now an election news section in the main menu on the phone. On the iPhone app, go to publication options, choose all publications, and election news will be on the list. This feature allows you to read information about candidates from their website. It is then divided into sections to read about positions on various categories such as foreign policy, taxes, etc. You can search for political news. The search function will search the 50 top newspapers in the country about individual candidates. You can also use the global search option in the main menu. P&A contact info for each state, and information about rights for blind voters is available on your state channel of Newsline. -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: acluflyers.zip Type: application/zip Size: 72387 bytes Desc: not available URL: