[nabs-l] NABS Membership Call Survey

Tue Aug 28 03:48:12 UTC 2012

Heh, I mean Cynthia, sorry!

In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.
    ~Louis Pasteur, lecture 1854

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 10:46 PM, Stephanie H. DeLuca <sjhhirst at gmail.com>wrote:

> I'm excited to see that other people support the idea of getting involved
> but sad to admit that it's a problem.
>
> My story is this:  In 2008, I went for early voting at one of the
> designated places in Nashville.  When it was my turn, they designated a
> polling machine to me.  Before I began the process, I asked about assisted
> voting.  Maybe I should have asked about accessible polling machines?
>  Anyway, he just said he'd have to help me and that was the only option I
> had.  I turned him down and went through the process myself (I do have some
> vision).
>
> It seems that the voting issues fall into a few categories:
> 1) lack of knowledge of rights/responsibilities on behalf of the voter
> 2) lack of training and knowledge of polling staff
> 3) lack of a functioning accessible voting machine on site
> 4) difficult-to-follow tutorials/instructions for the accessible machine
>
> For me, numbers 1 and 2 seem to be the biggest problems.  How do we get
> the word out and how do we insure that the people at the polling places are
> trained and that there is a funcitoning machine available?
>
> I like the idea about having demos.  Barring that, would it be possible to
> record a tutorial and post it online?  Maybe by someone who has used it
> recently?  I've heard that the tutorial provided at the polling place is
> often not straightforward or easy to follow and that a blind user could do
> a better job haha
>
> I think we should at the very least inform people of their rights.  I
> think finding the federal law wouldn't be too hard, but some rules vary
> state by state.  I'm having trouble tracking down the information for TN,
> for example.  Anyway, here is the federal law (I think).
>
> *Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act*
>
> The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984
> generally requires polling places across the United States to be physically
> accessible to people with disabilities for federal elections. Where no
> accessible location is available to serve as a polling place, a political
> subdivision must provide an alternate means of casting a ballot on the day
> of the election. This law also requires states to make available
> registration and voting aids for disabled and elderly voters, including
> information by TTYs (also known as TDDs) or similar devices. For more
> information, contact:
>
> U.S. Department of Justice
> Civil Rights Division
> 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
> Voting Section - 1800 G
> Washington, D.C. 20530
>
> (800) 253-3931 (voice/TTY)
>
>
>
> *National Voter Registration Act*
>
> The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the "Motor
> Voter Act," makes it easier for all Americans to exercise their fundamental
> right to vote. One of the basic purposes of the Act is to increase the
> historically low registration rates of minorities and persons with
> disabilities that have resulted from discrimination. The Motor Voter Act
> requires all offices of State-funded programs that are primarily engaged in
> providing services to persons with disabilities to provide all program
> applicants with voter registration forms, to assist them in completing the
> forms, and to transmit completed forms to the appropriate State official.
> For more information, contact:
>
> U.S. Department of Justice
> Civil Rights Division
> 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
> Voting Section - 1800 G
> Washington, D.C. 20530
>
> www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting
>
> (800) 253-3931 (voice/TTY)
>
> It seems that the NFB has a lot of lawyers.  Is it possible for us to get
> someone trained in law to help us with this one?
>
> Here is another good resource, the Department of Justice:
> http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/drs/
>
> One question I have is, why aren't ALL voting machines accessible?  It
> seems like this is more of a software issue.  Would it not be possible to
> write accessible software to be used on all machines?
>
> One other thing is that we should encourage people to file a complaint if
> they have these aforementioned problems this year and in the future.  We
> (the NFB) should provide information on that, as well.
>
> While I think this is a concern for the whole NFB on a national level, I
> think as students, we are in a good spot to target new voters and college
> students who have not voted before.  Maybe we could draft a brochure about
> rights and responsibilities and general information (maybe even for people
> who aren't blind but are disabled?) and make sure it gets distributed at
> voter registration drives going on campus.
>
> Cindy also makes a good point about getting to the voting place.  Also,
> this will become even more difficult in many states that require valid
> state IDs (like TN, AL, AR, etc.).  How should we deal with this?
>
> In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.
>     ~Louis Pasteur, lecture 1854
>
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 5:58 PM, Cynthia Bennett <clb5590 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Stephanie:
>>
>> That is a great idea. I had a similar experience as Josh as I voted in
>> my first election. They were the 2008 primaries, and I was very
>> excited. When the machine did not work, I asked a poll worker to
>> assist me. They filled in the ballot as I wished, but the worker did
>> make some comments about their preference on a politician. This
>> occured when I said that I did not want to vote for a particular
>> office, because I was unfamiliar with any of the candidates. I said
>> something like, "I don't want to fill in anything for this," and the
>> worker responded with "Oh, I heard that ___ is pretty good. Do you
>> want me to fill in his/her name?" I chose to still not vote for that
>> particular office. This practice is illegal, and I chose not to say
>> anything about it. But I do think that an informational call about
>> rights and accessible voting machines would be awesome. Unfortunately,
>> each state is a little different, but information about federal
>> mandates on the presence of accessible voting machines/rights and some
>> typical patterns in accessible voting in states would be great. For
>> example, Washington conducts mail ballots. There are a few precincts
>> around town, but if you work in a neighborhood in which it takes a
>> while to get to a precinct, you are at a disadvantage as a blind
>> person. So, you can either take off work and use public transportation
>> to navigate to one of the few and very busy precincts and wait in a
>> 3-hour line, or you can find a reader and disclose your voting
>> preferences. The other animal in this issue is that if you choose to
>> get a reader to fill out your signature does not match the signature
>> on your state ID which is kept on file, then your ballot can be deemed
>> as false and not counted. As a blind person, I do the best I can with
>> my signature, but I do think that even the most ambitious blind people
>> are at a disadvantage when having to match a signature, and our
>> ballots could not be counted, and we may not hear about it, or we
>> would learn of it after elections are closed. If we are afraid that
>> our signature may not match that of our state ID, then we can have 2
>> witnesses sign. But that is 2 more people that have to see my ballot.
>> I do not think that this practice is common within the states, and I
>> would definitely not like my experience to dominate the nature of the
>> call, but I wanted to relay it to show that I think this is a very
>> good idea. I would personally like some professional/legal
>> advice/legal suggestions on how this can be changed.
>>
>> So, if you have any suggestions on people to conduct this call, or
>> resources for where this information can be found, please share it. If
>> not, the membership committee will certainly take the initiative to
>> conduct an informative call if we do in fact decide to pursue this
>> topic. But I wanted to make sure that since you made the suggestion,
>> you are welcome to provide suggestions on people to conduct the call.
>>
>> I know that someone comes to each NC state convention with an
>> accessible voting machine to show in the exhibit hall. During this
>> time, people can vote in a fake election and orient themselves to the
>> machine. I am not sure if NC is still doing this since it has been a
>> few years since the accessible machines were introduced, but I think
>> there is still a need for outreach about accessible voting.
>>
>> Keep the good membership call suggestions coming!
>> Cindy
>>
>> On 8/27/12, Joshua Lester <JLester8462 at pccuaedu.onmicrosoft.com> wrote:
>> > Hi, Stephanie!
>> > That's a great idea!
>> > I went to my voting site, earlier this year, and the machine didn't
>> work.
>> > My Disability Rights person that works for the governor, here said he'd
>> come
>> > down, to show them how to work it, but he never showed up!
>> > Thanks, Joshua
>> > ________________________________________
>> > From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf
>> of
>> > Stephanie DeLuca [sjhhirst at gmail.com]
>> > Sent: Monday, August 27, 2012 2:53 PM
>> > To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>> > Subject: Re: [nabs-l] NABS Membership Call Survey
>> >
>> > I think a discussion on voting as people with disabilities would be
>> good.
>> > Since a lot of people are on college campuses, it'd be a good
>> opportunity to
>> > get involved with informing people with disabilities (mainly VI) about
>> > rights and responsibilities for voting.  I've been to/worked at several
>> > voter registration drives, and I have NEVER seen information on voting
>> if
>> > you have a disability.
>> >
>> > On Aug 27, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Cody Bair <codyjbair at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hi All,
>> >> As you are probably already aware, NABS conducts monthly membership
>> calls.
>> >> In order to get this school year started we are currently seeking your
>> >> input on what topics you would like to see us cover this year. Please
>> >> either reply directly to this thread with your suggestions or mail them
>> >> directly to
>> >> Nabs.membership at gmail.com
>> >> Sincerely,
>> >> The NABS membership Committee
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> nabs-l mailing list
>> >> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> >> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> >> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> >> nabs-l:
>> >>
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/sjhhirst%40gmail.com
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > nabs-l mailing list
>> > nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> > nabs-l:
>> >
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/jlester8462%40pccuaedu.onmicrosoft.com
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > nabs-l mailing list
>> > nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> > To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> > nabs-l:
>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/clb5590%40gmail.com
>> >
>>
>>
>> --
>> Cynthia Bennett
>> B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington
>>
>> clb5590 at gmail.com
>> 828.989.5383
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/sjhhirst%40gmail.com
>>
>
>