[Colorado-Talk] Accessible Electronic Ballot Now Available

[Curtis Chong]

Greetings and felicitations:

 

I am happy to report that for the very first time in the history of
Colorado, voters with disabilities, including those of us who are blind, can
now vote an electronic ballot independently and privately from our own homes
or other location. All that is needed is a computer or smart phone, a
printer, and access to the Internet. We can obtain our electronic ballots
right now for the November 5 coordinated election.

 

The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado has been working closely
with the Colorado Secretary of State's office to ensure that the electronic
ballot is truly accessible and usable. While there are some refinements that
we are hoping to see in time for the 2020 primary election on March 3, I can
safely say that the online system that is now in place is both accessible
and usable.

 

Here is some information from the Secretary of State's office.

 

1.	The voter will first need to decide if they are eligible for this
service. A voter who has a disability under the Americans with Disabilities
Act is eligible to vote an electronic ballot under Colorado law.
2.	If the voter is eligible and wants to vote an electronic ballot,
they should visit https://myballot.sos.colorado.gov. Once on the website, it
will guide them through the process of voting their ballot online.
3.	Once they have completed voting online, the website will prompt them
to print both their ballot and an electronic ballot application form. The
application form should be filled in with their information, so all the
voter will need to do is sign the application.
4.	The voter should place both the ballot and the printed application
in an envelope, write "Ballot enclosed" on the envelope, and return the
envelope to their county clerk either at a drop box, a voter service and
polling center, or through the mail. It is really important that the voter
includes the signed application with their ballot, because that is how their
county clerk will identify them and count their ballot.
5.	Voters can visit www.govotecolorado.com
<http://www.govotecolorado.com>  to update their voter registration
information (which they will need to be updated to access the online
system). They can also visit that website to find their nearest voter
service and polling center and drop box.

 

I have personally tested the electronic ballot system with a Windows
computer running JAWS and NVDA and an iPhone running VoiceOver. In both
cases, I was able to mark the ballot and print both the ballot and the
ballot application.

 

As with all new software implementations, there are bound to be some issues
that come up as the system gains exposure. But I am optimistic that the
problems will not be too difficult to resolve.

 

Cordially,

 

Curtis Chong

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org/attachments/20191011/1ff325d9/attachment.html>