[MABM] Urgent Action Needed on Federal Voting Legislation

[Sharon Maneki]

Fellow Federationists,

Please email or call Senators Cardin and Van Hollen and ask them to support
the two amendments for the For the People Act suggested by the National
Federation of the Blind. The phone number for Senator Cardin is
202-224-4524. The email for Senator Cardin's legislative director for
voting is bill_vanhorne at cardin.senate.gov.  The phone number for Senator
Van Hollen is 202-224-4654. Email his legislative director for voting is
shrara_schenning at vanhollen.senate.gov. Please take action ASAP because the
Maryland legislature will not do anything to solve this problem, so we
definitely need federal help. Read John Pare's message below for
information on the amendments. Thank you!

*Sharon Maneki, Director of Legislation and Advocacy*
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland
410-715-9596

Dear Federation Family:



On March 17, 2021, the Senate introduced S. 1, the For the People Act. We
expect the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to hold a markup
for this bill later this month. S. 1 does not address the lack of a secret
ballot resulting from a very small number of blind voters using an
accessible ballot-marking device (BMD) or the need for vote-by-mail ballots
to adhere to the Help America Vote Act and the Americans with Disabilities
Act. President Riccobono has written a letter to Senators Klobuchar and
Merkley urging that S. 1 be amended. His letter can be found at
https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/policy-statements/letter-senators-klobuchar-and-merkley-regarding-s-1.




Please call or write your two senators and urge them to support the two
amendments contained in this letter. These two amendments would:



1. Increase the number of ballot-marking devices in each polling place from
one to two and require poll workers to actively and specifically offer the
ballot-marking devices to voters with and without disabilities.

2. Require that states adhere to the requirements of the Help America Vote
Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act with regard to vote-by-mail.



When you call or email your senators you might say something like:



"Hello, my name is [YOUR NAME], and I am a constituent of [SENATOR NAME]. I
live in [CITY, STATE]. I would like to urge [SENATOR NAME] to propose two
amendments to S. 1 that would protect blind voters’ rights to a private and
independent ballot. The first amendment would increase the number of
ballot-marking devices in each polling place from one to two and require
poll workers to actively and specifically offer the ballot-marking devices
to voters with and without disabilities. The second amendment would require
states to adhere to the requirements of the Help America Vote Act and the
Americans with Disabilities Act with regard to vote-by-mail. Together,
these two amendments will ensure that blind Americans are able to vote and
that our ballots will be indistinguishable from others.



Thanks."



You can contact your senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard and asking
for the office in question. The number is 202-224-3121. If you email your
senators, please copy Jeff Kaloc at jkaloc at nfb.org. Your calls and emails
do make a difference.



It is best to call or email the relevant voting staffer in your senators’
offices. If you need the name and email of the appropriate staff person for
any Senate office, please email Jesa Medders at jmedders at nfb.org.



Thank you for all that you do. For your convenience, the content of
President Riccobono’s letter is below.



Warm Regards,



John





Dear Chairwoman Klobuchar and Senator Merkley:



The National Federation of the Blind, the premier membership and advocacy
organization of blind Americans, urges that the For the People Act of 2021
(S. 1) be amended with regard to requirements for ballot-marking devices
and the process of requesting, completing, and submitting vote-by-mail
ballots.

As you may already know, ballot-marking devices allow blind or
print-disabled persons to accessibly and independently complete their
ballot. These machines are typically not used by non-disabled voters, but
they offer several advantages. Ballot-marking devices eliminate stray
marks, prevent voters from over voting, and enable voters to change their
selection before the ballot is printed. However, these machines will
frequently print a paper ballot that differs in both size and style from
traditional paper ballots.



Because so few non-disabled voters use the ballot-marking devices, the
distinguishable ballot produced by the machine prevents blind and other
disabled voters from having a secret ballot. To ensure that blind and
print-disabled voters are able to cast both a secret and independent
ballot, it is essential that S. 1 be amended, so that ballot-marking
devices are not restricted to only voters with disabilities. We propose
striking the existing language in Section 1503(a) and replacing it with:



(a) IN GENERAL. —Section 301(a)(3)(B) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002
(52 U.S.C. 21081(a)(3)(B)) is amended to read as follows:

“(B) satisfy the requirement of subparagraph (A) through the use of at
least two direct recording electronic voting systems or other voting system
equipped for individuals with disabilities at each polling place and:

(i) the use of such voting systems shall not be restricted to voters with
disabilities and must be actively and specifically offered as a voting
method to all voters, regardless of whether the voter does or does not have
a disability; and

(ii) all state board of elections must conduct training of poll workers on
the use and operation of such voting systems and on the policy that poll
workers must actively and specifically offer such voting systems to all
voters, regardless of whether the voter does or does not have a disability.”



Furthermore, more Americans than ever before are choosing to vote by mail,
therefore it is essential that blind Americans not be excluded from this
opportunity. In that regard, S. 1 must be amended to ensure that the
process for requesting, completing, and submitting a vote-by-mail ballot is
nonvisually accessible. S. 1 currently states in Section 1101: “Rule of
Construction. — Nothing in this section may be construed to allow the
marking or casting of ballots over the internet." We urge that this “Rule
of Construction” be stricken and replaced with the following: “Rule of
Construction. — Nothing in this law shall be construed to limit or alter a
state’s obligations under Section 301(a)(3)(A) of the Help America Vote Act
of 2002 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act as amended.”
This would ensure that Congress is preserving the accessibility
requirements of these two landmark laws.



Ensuring the accessibility of in-person and vote-by-mail balloting will
guarantee that blind Americans are able to exercise their right to vote in
a safe and secure manner without having to wait in long lines and crowded
areas for extended periods of time. It is essential to incorporate the
above amendments into the bill in order to guarantee that blind Americans
are able to vote privately,

independently, and secretly. Without these amendments to the bill, Congress
would be reversing decades of progress in voting rights for Americans with
disabilities.



If the National Federation of the Blind can be of assistance in any way,
especially by utilizing the nonvisual access to voting best practices and
innovations we have developed over the past decades, please do not hesitate
to contact us.



We are fully prepared to help in any way that we can, in order to guarantee
that all Americans, especially blind Americans, can confidently participate
in our electoral democracy.



Sincerely,



Mark A. Riccobono, President

National Federation of the Blind
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/mabm_nfbnet.org/attachments/20210414/35cecf0b/attachment.html>