[Colorado-Talk] Accessible Voting and Electronic Ballot Return Now Available in Colorado

Wed Oct 20 01:45:21 UTC 2021

I voted electronically and used the  upload application to send my ballot,
application and photo ID.

I was initially confused, and realized that I had missed  some steps, but
once I got the instructions clarified, it all went  great. As Curtis says,
make sure you review all of the instructions and do not try to  rush through
or short cut anything. I voted using my computer.  I am not sure how easy it
is using a phone.  

I received a confirmation email from the election commission  letting me
know my ballot was received. 

This is so very very very awesome and so accessible now, compared to  what
we had to do before and I could vote completely privately. This is a very
big deal!

Julia

From: Colorado-Talk <colorado-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Curtis
Chong via Colorado-Talk
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2021 6:20 PM
To: 'NFB of Colorado Discussion List' <colorado-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Curtis Chong <chong.curtis at gmail.com>
Subject: [Colorado-Talk] Accessible Voting and Electronic Ballot Return Now
Available in Colorado

Greetings to my fellow Coloradans:

You may know that the official ballots for the November 2 coordinated
election have been mailed out to registered voters in Colorado. For those of
us who are blind or unable to mark the printed mail ballot without
assistance, this means that Colorado's accessible electronic ballot
delivery, marking, and return system is now open and available for us to
use. As we have done in previous elections, we can obtain and mark our
ballots at home using the access technology with which we are familiar.
Moreover, because of our work and the incredible support from Senator Jessie
Danielson, we can also return our ballots electronically. We no longer have
to find a printer to cast our votes independently and privately.

Critical First Step

For anyone who wants to use the new electronic ballot return option when
voting, there is a critical first step which must be completed. You need to
take a picture of your Colorado State ID and place it somewhere on your
computer or smartphone where you can easily locate it. If, however, you
prefer to use the system simply to mark your ballot and if you have ready
access to a printer, then you do not need to create a picture of your
Colorado State ID.

Accessible Voting Procedure

1.      Point your browser to https://myballot.sos.colorado.gov/app/home.
You will be taken to the accessible ballot home page. Find the Vote My
Ballot heading and activate the CONTINUE button. This will take you to the
Voter Lookup page.

2.      On this Voter Lookup page, you will need to provide your first and
last name, your date of birth, and your county. Once this information has
been entered, activate the CONTINUE button. This will take you to the Ballot
Type page.

3.      On the Ballot Type page, you will find three radio buttons:

.        I am requesting an emergency ballot,

.        I am a voter with a disability and am requesting an accessible
ballot, and

.        These do not apply.

Activate the first radio button and then activate the CONTINUE button to go
to the "Please confirm you are eligible to access this system" page.

4.      This page contains a checkbox which you should check to confirm that
you are eligible to use this system. Check the box and then activate the
CONTINUE button.

5.      This next page asks a question which seeks to determine if you are a
voter who is blind, has a print disability, or is otherwise unable, through
physical disability, to hold, mark, or manipulate a ballot or to focus or
move the eyes to the extent that would be normally acceptable for reading or
marking a ballot. As a person who is blind, you  would want to activate the
Yes radio button. After doing this, activate the CONTINUE button.

6.      On this last voter verification page, you are asked to enter either
your driver's license number (for the blind, our Colorado State ID number)
or the last four digits of your Social Security number. You do not need to
enter both pieces of information. Now, activate the CONTINUE button. You
will now be presented with your ballot on a single page.

7.      On the ballot page, each candidate or position is indicated by a
checkbox. Use the space key to select the candidates or positions for which
you want to vote. Each contest, proposition, proposed constitutional
amendment, or ballot measure is marked by a level 3 heading. Use the
appropriate screen reader command to move quickly between the contests. Once
you have completed marking the ballot, activate the CONTINUE button to go to
the Selection Review page.

8.      On the Selection Review page, you have the opportunity to check your
ballot for one last time before moving on to the next phase. There is a
Change button for each contest which, when activated, takes you back to the
ballot page. Once you are satisfied that the ballot is as you want it,
activate the CONTINUE button at the bottom of the page. You will be taken to
the Save or Print Your Ballot page.

9.      On this page, you should activate the SAVE OR PRINT YOUR BALLOT
button. If you are activating this button from a Windows computer and if you
want to save your ballot instead of printing it, you should ensure that the
printer selected is the one which is labeled Save as PDF.

If you are using an iPhone or iPad) there is, unfortunately,  one small
point of confusion. After you activate the SAVE OR PRINT YOUR BALLOT button,
you will encounter a Print button but not one which specifically says
Download. You need to activate a Print button for a second time, at which
point you will be presented with a list of choices. If you are taking
advantage of electronic ballot return where your ballot will be uploaded,
activate the Save to Files button and select the iCloud Drive Downloads
folder.

10.    After your ballot is saved or printed, you will be taken back to the
Save or Print Your Ballot page. Activate the CONTINUE button to be taken to
the Download or Print Return Package page.

11.    On this page, activate the DOWNLOAD OR PRINT ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
button. Windows users will be prompted with a dialog to save a PDF document.
By default this file will be placed in your default Downloads folder. You
will be able to give it whatever name works for you. For iPhone/iPad users,
however, while you will be prompted to download the package, you will not be
able to give it another name.

12.    After the package has been printed or downloaded, activate the
CONTINUE button to go to the next step.

13.    If you printed your ballot and ballot application documents instead
of downloading them, you are finished. However, if you downloaded these
files to submit them electronically, you should pay attention to these
instructions.

"Thank you for voting, but you're not done!

Please follow the instructions provided in the previous pages and in your
additional ballot materials to return your ballot and materials to your
local elections office. If you are returning your ballot and materials
electronically, please return them at Colorado's secure ballot return
website by clicking the "return my ballot" link below."

For your information, the "return my ballot" link points to
https://ballotreturn.coloradosos.gov/form/accessible.

Uploading Your Ballot and Ballot Application

After you have saved your ballot, your ballot application document, and a
picture of your Colorado State ID, you should direct your browser to the
website https://ballotreturn.coloradosos.gov/form/accessible. You will be
taken to the State of Colorado Secure Ballot Return page. You do not have to
perform this part of the voting process immediately after you have finished
marking your ballot. You already have your documents downloaded to your
system. You can treat this part of the process as something that you can
take up on another day.

On the State of Colorado Secure Ballot Return page, non-mouse users should
activate the browse to attach files link to start uploading the first file.
As each file is uploaded successfully, a list will appear showing the file
name and file size. The system allows a maximum of 20 files to be uploaded.
Each file should not exceed 5 megabytes in size.

Once all files have been uploaded, fill in your name, phone number, and
email address, and activate the Submit button.

Conclusion

If all of this sounds exceedingly complicated or, at the very least,
tedious, I am afraid that there are definitely a lot of steps to perform
here. Such is the way with technology.

Voters with disabilities who use this system are urged to contact their
respective county clerks. If history is any guide, you will probably be
referred to the office of Colorado's Secretary of State. If you like, feel
free to call me at 515-306-1654 or drop me an email at
chong.curtis at gmail.com <mailto:chong.curtis at gmail.com> . I will try to be of
help if I can.

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