[Colorado-Talk] Please Send Email Supporting Audio Demonstrations of Accessible Voting Systems

[Curtis Chong]

Hello to my fellow Coloradans:

 

The Colorado Secretary of State has issued a notice of rulemaking
<https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/COSOS/bulletins/362b192>  which,
among other things, includes a requirement for providers of voting systems
to demonstrate the accessible features of their respective products,
including the audio which will accompany voting on a ballot marking device
and the actions available to the voter to take at every step on the device.
A public hearing has been announced to take place on Thursday, August 3, at
1:00 p.m.

 

In previous demonstrations of voting systems, the nonvisual access features
available to the blind were talked about but rarely demonstrated. If the
proposed rule is adopted, we, voters who are blind, would be able to hear
how a supposedly accessible voting system would sound as a blind voter marks
the ballot. Personally, I believe this is the best way for us to gain a real
understanding of how well (or poorly) a voting system would work from a
nonvisual access perspective.

 

Please send an email supporting this change to
SoS.RuleMaking at ColoradoSOS.gov. To keep this simple, feel free to use some
or all of the draft language shown here.

 

<Begin Draft Language>

 

I am writing to support proposed amendments to Elections rules which would
require providers of voting systems to demonstrate the accessibility
features of their voting systems, including the audio that a blind voter
would hear when marking a ballot. In previous demonstrations of voting
systems in Colorado, the nonvisual access features available to the blind
were talked about but rarely demonstrated. This rule change is critical for
blind voters to gain a clear understanding of how the voting system would
work from a nonvisual perspective.

 

<End Draft Language>

 

If anyone has any questions about this or needs help, please feel free to
call me or send me an email. My cell phone number is 515-306-1654, and my
email address is chong.curtis at gmail.com.

 

Thank you.

 

Kind regards,

 

Curtis Chong

 

 

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