[NFB-Greeley] Fw: [Colorado-Talk] Accessible Electronic Ballot Now Available

[Melissa R Green]

Diane, send this out. The below message was for November. But I just used it for Tuesday’s primary. This has the information so you can vote online. There are two pages to print. You sign the second page. It is so liberating. I just voted. now have to find the ballot envelope to send it back or take it to the polling place. 
So exciting, to vote by myself. I can help anyone that needs it. 
See the message below. If you also want, you can use the accessible machines at the polling place. Yay NFB! 
Sincerely, 
Melissa R Green and Pj


From: Curtis Chong via Colorado-Talk 
Sent: Friday, October 11, 2019 2:35 PM
To: 'NFB of Colorado Discussion List' 
Cc: Curtis Chong 
Subject: [Colorado-Talk] Accessible Electronic Ballot Now Available

Greetings and felicitations:

 

I am happy to report that for the very first time in the history of Colorado, voters with disabilities, including those of us who are blind, can now vote an electronic ballot independently and privately from our own homes or other location. All that is needed is a computer or smart phone, a printer, and access to the Internet. We can obtain our electronic ballots right now for the November 5 coordinated election.

 

The National Federation of the Blind of Colorado has been working closely with the Colorado Secretary of State's office to ensure that the electronic ballot is truly accessible and usable. While there are some refinements that we are hoping to see in time for the 2020 primary election on March 3, I can safely say that the online system that is now in place is both accessible and usable.

 

Here is some information from the Secretary of State's office.

 

  1.. The voter will first need to decide if they are eligible for this service. A voter who has a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act is eligible to vote an electronic ballot under Colorado law. 
  2.. If the voter is eligible and wants to vote an electronic ballot, they should visit https://myballot.sos.colorado.gov. Once on the website, it will guide them through the process of voting their ballot online. 
  3.. Once they have completed voting online, the website will prompt them to print both their ballot and an electronic ballot application form. The application form should be filled in with their information, so all the voter will need to do is sign the application. 
  4.. The voter should place both the ballot and the printed application in an envelope, write “Ballot enclosed” on the envelope, and return the envelope to their county clerk either at a drop box, a voter service and polling center, or through the mail. It is really important that the voter includes the signed application with their ballot, because that is how their county clerk will identify them and count their ballot. 
  5.. Voters can visit www.govotecolorado.com to update their voter registration information (which they will need to be updated to access the online system). They can also visit that website to find their nearest voter service and polling center and drop box.
 

I have personally tested the electronic ballot system with a Windows computer running JAWS and NVDA and an iPhone running VoiceOver. In both cases, I was able to mark the ballot and print both the ballot and the ballot application.

 

As with all new software implementations, there are bound to be some issues that come up as the system gains exposure. But I am optimistic that the problems will not be too difficult to resolve.

 

Cordially,

 

Curtis Chong

 



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Colorado-Talk mailing list
Colorado-Talk at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Colorado-Talk:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org/graduate56%40juno.com
List archives can be found at <http://www.nfbnet.org/pipermail/colorado-talk_nfbnet.org>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/nfb-greeley_nfbnet.org/attachments/20200227/7d220105/attachment.html>