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<p>I think I have marbles in my head instead of brain cells, or I'd
have asked this question when we first heard ofthis issue: what
are supposed to be the virtues of using a bar code or qr code?
Why would the Automark people or anybody else want to take this
approach?</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Thank you to anybody who knows what's up here.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Best,</p>
<p>Al</p>
<p> <br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 9/14/23 07:30, Shara Winton via
Massachusetts-NFB wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:00ac01d9e6fe$d5750d00$805f2700$@gmail.com">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Good Morning All,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We had a meeting with Democracy Live, the
Bay State Council and a lobbyist for this bill, last night to
further discuss the measure. Justin Salisbury was in
attendance. Below he has listed some of our concerns. As
always, Justin has a very good understanding of how to change
legislation in the way that best aligns with NFB Policy. Thank
you Justin for your diligence in always working to advocate
for all of us. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Shara Winton<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">President, National Federation of the
Blind of Massachusetts<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">617-304-0347<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div
style="border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in">
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="mso-ligatures:none">From:</span></b><span
style="mso-ligatures:none"> Justin Salisbury
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:PRESIDENT@alumni.ecu.edu"><PRESIDENT@alumni.ecu.edu></a> <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, September 13, 2023 10:04 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:sharawinton@gmail.com">sharawinton@gmail.com</a>; Lou Ann Blake
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:LBlake@nfb.org"><LBlake@nfb.org></a>; Debbie Malone
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:dmalone510@gmail.com"><dmalone510@gmail.com></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Uniform Ballot Measure in Massachusetts<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi Shara, Lou Ann, and Debbie,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve composed my thoughts and reflections,
parts of which are copied and pasted from thoughts shared by
Lou Ann previously. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The
bill itself is extremely short. It appears to be just an
amendment. I’m going to paste it here as found on the <a
href="https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/HD2757"
moz-do-not-send="true">MA legislature’s website</a>: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Section
44 of chapter 54 of the General Laws, as appearing in the
2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the
following paragraph:-<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Ballots
shall be uniform in size, material and content for all
voters in a polling place, regardless of whether the
ballot is voted on a ballot-marking device or directly on
a paper ballot. Ballots shall be tabulated directly from
the voter-marked selections and not from a barcode, QR
code or other representation not marked by the voter,
either on a ballot-marking device or directly on paper.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">It
sounds like the bill would require the ballots used for
marking by hand and marking with an accessible ballot
marking device (BMD) be uniform. Currently, there are
multiple BMDs that produce a ballot that is different from
the hand marked ballot in size and content. For example,
some BMD ballots show only the candidates selected by the
voter, while the hand marked ballot displays every candidate
in each contest. Consequently, if only voters with
disabilities are using the BMD, the voters with disabilities
who used the BMD do not have a secret ballot. In addition,
when the BMD is intended as a separate system only for
voters with disabilities, there is a tendency for poll
workers to be inadequately trained on how to set up and
operate the BMD. Our blind voter surveys have consistently
shown that one-quarter to one-third of blind and low-vision
voters have found that the BMD was not set up when they
arrived at the polling place, and that poll workers did not
know how to set up or operate the machine. Requiring the
ballots to be uniform may ensure that ballots cast by voters
with disabilities are more effectively secret, but it will
maintain a separate voting system for voters with
disabilities, and the inherent problems associated with such
a system. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">As
stated in <a
href="https://nfb.org/resources/speeches-and-reports/resolutions/2019-resolutions#05"
moz-do-not-send="true">Resolution 2019-05</a>, it is the
policy of the NFB that the primary ballot marking tool
should be an accessible ballot marking device to ensure the
secrecy of ballots cast by voters with disabilities, and to
eliminate the provision of a separate voting system for
voters with disabilities, and the inherent problems
associated with a separate system. Using the BMD as the
primary ballot marking tool also has several advantages over
hand marking of ballots:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoListParagraph"
style="margin-left:7.5pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Eliminates
the stray marks associated with hand marking of ballots</span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraph"
style="margin-left:7.5pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Prevents
over voting a contest, and warns the voter if they under
voted a contest</span><o:p></o:p></li>
<li class="MsoListParagraph"
style="margin-left:7.5pt;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">The
voter can change their mind prior to printing the ballot.</span><o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Furthermore,
this amendment focuses on banning tabulation via QR codes
and bar codes and instead requires that ballots shall be
tabulated directly from the voter-marked selections. Based
on the first sentence of this amendment, “Ballots shall be
uniform in size, material and content for all voters in a
polling place, regardless of whether the ballot is voted on
a ballot-marking device or directly on a paper ballot.” If
these things are achieved, then either everyone uses bar
codes or QR codes, or nobody uses them. The uniformity has
already been established. I also have yet to find any
evidence indicating that QR codes or bar codes would create
a problem for broader election security. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">During
our Zoom meeting with Democracy Live and the Bay State
Council of the Blind on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, we
were able to ask them about some of these details. In my
opinion, DemocracyLive has done a lot of great work to make
voting accessible, and I am happy to praise them for it. In
this case, I think we have some disagreement, which I think
could be easily resolved through an amendment. Let me now
describe the disagreement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">During
the September 13 call, a member of the National Federation
of the Blind (NFB) asked a few questions, and proponents of
the current language did not seem to receive these questions
well. When the NFB member asked for confirmation about
whether the proposed amendment would still maintain a
separate-but-equal ballot marking system, by-hand versus a
Ballot Marking Device (BMD), the eventual answer was that it
does indeed maintain a separate-but-equal ballot marking
system. Then, the NFB member asked why we would need to ban
ballot tabulation via QR codes or bar codes after we’ve
already required that “Ballots shall be uniform in size,
material and content for all voters in a polling place,
regardless of whether the ballot is voted on a
ballot-marking device or directly on a paper ballot.” The
proponents of the current language insisted that the current
language of the bill could not be amended and that the
purpose of banning tabulation via bar code or QR code was a
matter of ensuring a uniform process for the tabulation of
ballots. The NFB member asked if the bill could be amended
to replace the language about QR codes and bar codes with a
statement that the process of tabulating ballots shall also
be uniform so that ballots marked by a BMD shall be
tabulated in the same manner as ballots marked by hand. This
suggestion was rejected by the proponents of the current
bill language. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">In my
opinion, this bill and the marketing for it sound nice on
the surface level, but, when we look at the details, we find
some conflicts. The separate-but-equal ballot marking system
does not align with NFB policy, but I’d like to get some
more input from our national headquarters about whether we
should oppose efforts to improve the separate-but-equal
ballot marking system because it perpetuates a
separate-but-equal system. With regard to the bar codes and
QR codes, I think we would want a simple amendment that
removes mention of bar codes and QR codes and instead
requires that the process of tabulating ballots shall also
be uniform so that ballots marked by a BMD shall be
tabulated in the same manner as ballots marked by hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">We are
told that the hearing on this bill will occur on Tuesday,
September 19, at 1:00 PM Eastern in the Joint Committee on
Election Laws. We have to make decisions quickly. Much of
what is in this email can comprise our NFBMA written
testimony. I can continue to adapt it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Justin<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">Justin
Salisbury (he/him)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">2117
Chestnut Hill Ave<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">Athol,
MA 01331<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">Phone:
808.797.8606<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">Email:
<a href="mailto:President@Alumni.ECU.edu"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="color:blue">President@Alumni.ECU.edu</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
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