[MN-at-Large] Access to Absentee Voting!

[David Andrews]

>
>Fellow Federationists,
>
>I am pleased to tell you that, because of the 
>efforts of the National Federation of the Blind 
>of Minnesota, Eve Hill­an attorney with the law 
>offices of Brown, Goldstein, & Levy, and the 
>Disability Law Center, Minnesotans will be able 
>to independently and privately fill out their 
>absentee ballots for the 2020 election. This is 
>a victory for accessibility and for blind people 
>across the state, and I look forward to our 
>expanding it further in the coming years.
>
>In this email you will find relevant information 
>on how to obtain your accessible ballot, as well 
>as additional items to be aware of when mailing 
>it in. You will note that, because this system 
>is in its infancy, there are parts of the 
>process for which sighted assistance may still 
>be needed. The actual filling out of the ballot, 
>however, can be done independently.
>
>Those wishing to cast an accessible absentee 
>ballot must first go through the process of 
>requesting a standard absentee ballot. This can 
>be done at 
><http://www.mnvotes.org/absentee>www.mnvotes.org/absentee. 
>Once you have requested your absentee ballot, 
>you should 
><https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/find-county-election-office/?searchTerm=county%20elections>contact 
>your county auditor to request an accommodation 
>under the Americans with Disabilities Act. (If 
>you need help finding the contact info for your 
>county, you can call our office at 
>612-872-9363.) You will receive your paper 
>ballot in the mail, and you will be emailed a 
>link to the tool where you can fill out the 
>accessible ballot. It is very important that you 
>return your ballot in the envelopes that came with your paper ballot.
>
>The following information is taken directly from 
>the secretary of State’s office:
>
>"A voter using this system can use the tool to 
>vote their ballot independently, but will still 
>have to complete the paper forms provided by the 
>county for the ballot return materials.  In 
>future elections we hope to be able to 
>incorporate these paper forms into the 
>accessible tool, but in order to get this 
>deployed for the 2020 election, only the ballot 
>is available through this new accessibility tool.
>
>If you have questions about this process, you 
>can contact the state’s voter hotline at 
>651-215-1440 and ask to speak with Brad N or Christine."
>
>
>
>For decades, the National Federation of the 
>Blind of Minnesota has been a tireless advocate 
>for independent, private voting. I am pleased 
>that the state has taken this crucial step 
>toward full accessibility in the vote-by-mail 
>process, and I look forward to our continued 
>partnership and progress in the future.
>
>If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
>
>Warmly,
>
>Ryan
>
>
>
>
>
>Ryan Strunk, President
>
><mailto:president at nfbmn.org>president at nfbmn.org
>
>www.nfb.org
>
><http://www.nfbmn.org>www.nfbmn.org
>
>(612) 872-9363
>
>Live the life you Want.


-- 
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
https://www.avg.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/mn-at-large_nfbnet.org/attachments/20201020/edcee074/attachment.html>