[MD-AtLarge] Help Needed to End Segregated Voting for the Disabled

[Sharon Maneki]

Hello all,

Please email your state senator right away, but no later than Monday night,
March 15. Ask your senator to vote in favor of SB831. I will provide a
sample note for your senator at the end of this email.

SB831 is a long bill that contains many changes in the voting process.
Senator Lam amended this bill to alleviate the segregated voting problem
for people with disabilities and the committee passed this amendment. Now
we need the whole Senate to pass the bill with our important amendment.
Please make sure that we take full advantage of this opportunity to move
our voting issue forward.

The amendment says:

THE FOLLOWING PERCENTAGES OF VOTERS, AT A MINIMUM, ON EACH DAY OF EARLY
VOTING AND ON ELECTION DAY SHALL USE A BALLOT MARKING DEVICE THAT IS
ACCESSIBLE TO VOTERS WITH DISABILITIES
TO VOTE AT EACH EARLY VOTING CENTER AND EACH ELECTION DAY POLLING PLACE:
1. 10% OF VOTERS DURING THE 2022 STATEWIDE PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTIONS;
2. 20% OF VOTERS DURING THE 2024 STATEWIDE PRIMARY AND GENERAL ELECTIONS;
AND
3. 30% OF VOTERS DURING EACH SUBSEQUENT STATEWIDE PRIMARY AND GENERAL
ELECTION.

The amendment also contains training and reporting requirements.

Please call 410-715-9596 if you do not know who your senator is and I will
tell you.

Here is a sample note for your senator:

Dear Senator,

Please vote in favor of SB831, the Election Reform Act of 2021. This bill
contains a provision that will alleviate the segregated voting problem that
persons with disabilities have faced during the last five election cycles.
Some people may say that this amendment will cost too much money. Please
remember that this is a civil rights issue. The government should be
willing to pay to promote democracy. The State Board of Elections could
find a cheaper ballot marking device if they wished to do so because they
exist.

Blind and disabled voters are entitled to the same secret ballot that other
voters have.

Sincerely,
Name
Address

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

The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland knows that blindness is
not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Everyday we raise
the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want;
blindness is not what holds you back.
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