[IL-Talk] IL Accessible Vote by Mail Information

[davant1958 at gmail.com]

Hello All,

I have received some helpful information for those of you who are
considering using Illinois' new Accessible Vote by Mail System. Please see
below.

 

On April 8, the Illinois General Assembly passed SB 829, which mandates a
for remote accessible vote-by-mail system for the November 2022 general
election and all subsequent elections. This secure system will allow blind,
deafblind, and other print disabled voters to mark their absentee ballots
using their own screen reader and/or Braille technology to vote privately
and independently in their homes. On May 13, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker
signed the legislation. Every election authority in the state will have to
provide  its voters with disabilities with an accessible vote-by-mail
option.

The Illinois Board of Elections has signed a contract with Democracy Live,
which local election authorities can opt into for their voters. The Chicago
and Cook County election authorities use a different accessible vote by mail
system.

The time to request an absentee ballot from your local election authority,
including an accessible one started on August 7. Absentee voting and early
voting begins on September 29.

If you need to locate your local election authority, go to elections.il.gov.
Under the tab titled "Information For Voters" there is a link to "Election
Authority Contact Information".  Clicking on that will lead you to a page
with a drop down menu of each jurisdiction.  Selecting your  jurisdiction
will lead you to a contact page with your election authority's email
address, physical address, phone number, and website.

You can always call the State Board of Elections at 217-782-4141 to get
information for your local election authority.

Illinois only permits electronic ballot delivery, which means you will have
to print out your ballot and follow the steps given by your election
authority to mail it back or drop it off.

If you wish to see a demonstration or demo an Accessible Vote by Mail ballot
with JAWS, go to https://sites.omniballot.us/EBR_ADA/app/ob/vr
<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-u
s.mimecast.com%2Fs%2F5HgGCn5ND2f7K3Mqc9qQuK%3Fdomain%3Dsites.omniballot.us&d
ata=05%7C01%7Clblake%40nfb.org%7C5bad2e379d9b44fac44508da94fb8d28%7C538f3d4b
739545cf93fa8dfc2b4a7f62%7C1%7C0%7C637986105374954614%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3
d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%
7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2BTOCWKVAQLGyLpZT9PtrMBXzNKC3y5RHiY%2FlN1g7he4%3D&reserved=0
>  

Please use the credentials Sample Voter and 1/1/1999 for First name, last
name and date of birth. 

There is also a YouTube video showing a voter using the electronic ballot
delivery option. 

 Go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdi-Ge54TkM
<https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fprotect-u
s.mimecast.com%2Fs%2F_TrhCo26E3FrBPxLSzVBdx%3Fdomain%3Dyoutube.com&data=05%7
C01%7Clblake%40nfb.org%7C5bad2e379d9b44fac44508da94fb8d28%7C538f3d4b739545cf
93fa8dfc2b4a7f62%7C1%7C0%7C637986105374954614%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIj
oiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C
&sdata=xAxV77yihATV6JoXS%2FCm6oRY7DTiwSLh9lDIA6OpnNg%3D&reserved=0> &t=271s