[Nfbc-info] Governor Brown signs bill to protect the rights of blind voters

[Brian Buhrow]

	Hello.  I saw the following article in the San Jose Mercury News this
morning.  I thought folks would find it interesting.
-Brian

   Inspired by San Mateo suit, Gov. Brown signs bill to protect rights of blind
   voters

      Bay City News Service
      Posted:   07/24/2016 11:19:01 AM PDT
      Updated:   07/24/2016 11:19:01 AM PDT

      A new California law aimed at protecting the voting rights of the blind
      was inspired by a lawsuit against San Mateo County, according to the
      office of State Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco.

      Assembly Bill 2252, which was authored by Ting and signed by Gov. Jerry
      Brown, would allow voters with disabilities to vote with the same
      convenience that military and overseas voters have by receiving their
      vote by mail ballots through email, according to Ting's office.

      The California Council of the Blind filed the lawsuit in December when
      San Mateo County held its first all vote by mail election. The
      plaintiff in the case said that vote by mail systems pose an obstacle
      to some to vote confidentially.

      The bill would make it easier for disabled voters to vote because
      disabled voters can get electronic ballots that can be marked and sent
      in to be counted with other ballots, Ting's offices said.

      "California has led the way for technology to permeate our daily lives
      and its time to harness this power to ensure that everyone who wants to
      cast a vote may do so," Ting said in a statement.

      Copyright 2016 by Bay City News, Inc.