[nfbmi-talk] auto mark

Fri Nov 23 23:10:17 UTC 2012

I must disagree with this comment. I have asked here in the state of 
Missouri and was told that the only elections which absolutely had to be 
made accessible were the Federal ones. If I am wrong, so be it, I sure would 
like to know the law which states that all elections including local ones 
are to be made accessible.

Fred Olver
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Christine _boone" <christine_boone at comcast.net>
To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, November 23, 2012 5:04 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] auto mark

> Jason raises a good question here: is each state, Michigan included, 
> required to make elections accessible when they are not National 
> elections? Yes! According to the Help America Vote Act, commonly referred 
> to as HAVA, every poling place in America was required to have at least 
> one accessible voting machine by 2006. That is why we have the Auto-Mark 
> in Michigan. Other states selected other kinds of Machines, but the 
> outcome was the same. Every little poling place across the Nation, no 
> matter how small, now has one accessible voting machine. In addition to 
> this, Any voting machine purchased after January 1, 2007 must be 
> accessible. This law applies to every election in every state. Now, 
> michigan appears to be getting around the law by continuing to use paper 
> ballots at its poling places rather than purchasing other accessible 
> machines, but at least the Auto-Marks are there, and the idea of 
> contacting every  county's election official to make sure that training of 
> pole workers  is complete is a great one.
>
> I also think we should provide some training sessions to our own members 
> and interested blind people. I know that the first time I went to vote 
> here in Kalamazoo, the Auto-mark was there and all set up. Someone had 
> even been trained on how to use it, but I was the first live sole who was 
> going to vote witht the thing. Well it was not set up right, and the 
> headphones were plugged into the wrong port so it did not talk. At first 
> they were not willing to let me touch it, but after half an hour of 
> unsuccessfully trying to make it work, the worker gave up and walked away. 
> At that point I sat down, checked it it out  and switched the headphone 
> jack to another port...what do you know, it worked and I voted. Ever since 
> then I love going to vote. Usually someone tried to be overly helpful in 
> the line, and without exception, another poling worker speaks right up and 
> says "Oh she is fine don't worry about her!"  I love this...being treated 
> like everyone else. That is the power of knowledge and we need to share 
> that knowledge with every blind person in Michigan if we can.
>
>
> Boone Christine Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Nov 20, 2012, at 5:30 PM, "Jason Meddaugh" <jj at bestmidi.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm happy to help with such an initiative, though I can't guarantee I'll 
>> be in Michigan in 2014.
>> But it sounds like we have two major parts to the project.
>> 1. Organize several demonstrations of accessible voting technology where 
>> people can test out the machines and of course we happen to see if they 
>> want a free cane or join a chapter while we're there.
>> 2. Talk to the county clerks to ensure the machines are accessible and 
>> operational. There's 83 counties in Michigan, but if the list was split 
>> up over several people, we should be able to talk to all of them. This 
>> second part could be started much sooner. And while we're talking to 
>> them, we can get a feeler on where we may want to set up demonstrations.
>>
>> Finally, a question, I know HAVA requires accessibility for all federal 
>> elections. In Kalamazoo at least, all local elections have also been made 
>> accessible. Do we have a state law that is mandating this or is that 
>> decision made locally?
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>> Jason Meddaugh
>> A T Guys
>> Your Assistive Technology Experts
>> (269) 216-4798
>> http://www.ATGuys.com
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: <rehahnanimallover at att.net>
>> To: <terrydeagle at yahoo.com>; "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" 
>> <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 7:51 AM
>> Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] auto mark
>>
>>
>>> I agree.  That is a very good idea to help get other potential members.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message----- From: Terry Eagle
>>> Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 7:04 AM
>>> To: 'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'
>>> Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] auto mark
>>>
>>> Great information and idea Georgia.  Perhaps we the NFBM can sponsor 
>>> such a
>>> training in Fall of 2014 around the state.  A wonderful way to identify
>>> potential members and potential Newsline subscribers too.
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: nfbmi-talk [mailto:nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>> Gkitchen
>>> Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 1:17 AM
>>> To: NFB of Michigan List
>>> Subject: [nfbmi-talk] auto mark
>>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Fortunately, I had good luck when I used the voting machine here .  Our
>>> Center for Independent Living had a training session and luncheon I went 
>>> to
>>> several years ago. Yes, that would be cool if the nfb could educate
>>> folksabout this technology. I like the machine because you can vote
>>> privately and shut off the monitor so people cannot watch how you are
>>> voting. One can also review  different parts of the ballot.
>>> Perhaps we could do that in this area.
>>>
>>> I voted on absentee ballot this time . I found out that the ballot is on
>>> line so you can read it ahead of time if you wanted to. I was lucky to 
>>> have
>>> a good reader this time. It was my first time voting absentee. My friend 
>>> had
>>> voted that way a few days before I voted so she was familar with the 
>>> ballot.
>>> That does help speed things up.
>>>
>>> Georgia Kitchen
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>>
>>
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>
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