[NFBMO] From the Voice of the Nation's Blind Blog: Online Voting for the Blind: Security Should Not Supercede Access

[Daniel Garcia]

Dear Friends:

In light of our voting complaint to the U. S. Department of Justice
regarding the inability of all blind Missourians to vote privately and
independently in all elections, it is important to familiarize ourselves
with the technology that will eventually let people choose to vote
electronically without having to go to the polls and about the arguments
that people employ to deny blind people the opportunity to use such
accessible technology.

Below is a post by long-time Federationist Curtis Chong in the Voice of the
Nation's Blind Blog about this subject.

Source:
https://nfb.org/blog/online-voting-blind-security-should-not-supercede-acces
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Online Voting for the Blind: Security Should Not Supersede Access

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

By Curtis Chong

The ability to vote using a secret ballot that can be marked privately and
without coercion has long been a fundamental cornerstone of America's
democratic system. For centuries, blind voters were forced to rely on the
help of election judges, trusted friends or relatives, or other human
readers to mark their ballots. This deprived them of the right to a truly
secret ballot. Blind people like me, who wanted to participate in the
democratic process, put up with this lack of true secrecy and independence
as long as there were no viable alternatives available.

The 1972 presidential election was my first opportunity to participate in
the electoral process. At that time, the only way that I could vote was with
the help of an election judge. This didn't bother me too much-I was used to
working with sighted readers. There were no alternatives available that
would have given me the chance to mark my ballot independently and secretly.
I voted this way for more than three decades.

The first nonvisually accessible systems for marking and casting ballots at
the polls were developed because of the passage of the Help America Vote Act
(HAVA) in 2002. These systems had tactile keys and text-to-speech technology
to provide a nonvisual interface to the ballot. Once the blind voter
finished marking and checking the ballot, these systems would print a
something which, for all intents and purposes, was the same ballot as that
cast by other voters. I used an accessible voting machine during the 2004
presidential election to mark and cast my very first truly secret ballot.
The personal freedom I felt after having done this was liberating.

Two years later, I went to the polls to vote in another election. I had
forgotten how to use the voting machine. The equipment had changed anyway. I
had to spend extra time learning how to use the new system before I could
get down to the actual business of marking the ballot. I felt more than a
little frustrated and annoyed with the whole experience. When I discussed
this with my blind friends and colleagues, I heard that I was not the only
blind person who experienced this. I had to familiarize myself with a system
which I would use only once every one or two years.

The online voting systems available today-in particular, those systems which
enable ballot marking and return via email or through a Web portal-offer
blind voters the chance to receive, mark, review, and return our ballots
using technology we can confidently and proficiently operate. The ability to
return a ballot electronically is critical for blind voters who don't have
ready access to a printer-especially if travel to a polling center is
difficult or impossible. This type of system enables blind voters to work
with familiar software and hardware-something that is impossible using the
accessible voting equipment at the polls.

Security pundits have said that returning ballots electronically is the
least secure way to return marked ballots and is guaranteed to corrupt the
voting process. Stories in the media give greater emphasis to this argument.
They fail to point out that voters who are blind or who have print
disabilities still deserve the ability to return ballots electronically,
security concerns notwithstanding.

Many people (and some of the media) claim that online voting is equivalent
to eliminating the paper ballot. This is not true. Usually when a ballot is
received electronically, it is printed on the same kind of paper using the
same format as the standard paper ballot received through other channels.
During the counting process, a ballot submitted through an online system is
indistinguishable from one sent in by mail or placed in a ballot box.

I do not quarrel with the idea that the voting process needs to be as secure
as possible. Neither do I disagree that returning a ballot electronically is
not without some security risk. Where I draw the line is when security
experts and others tell us that blind voters and voters with print
disabilities do not deserve the opportunity to return their ballots
electronically on the theory that security concerns should supersede their
right to vote privately and independently.

I fully understand that the electoral process implemented in this country is
built on a foundation of trust. When voters place ballots into ballot boxes,
or send their ballots in by mail, they trust that no disreputable individual
will tear up their votes but, instead, will insert the paper ballot into the
counting system so that it can be accurately processed. When ballots are
submitted electronically, I understand that the electronic information in
the ballot has a slim chance of being corrupted before it reaches its
destination, but I am willing to take that risk in light of the greater
accessibility that I enjoy by using the electronic ballot return process.
Online voting is a technology that is still relatively new. Blind voters
like me and voters with print disabilities appreciate having this
capability. We can and will continue to advocate for this type of system in
states where it doesn't exist today. Gone are the days when technology did
not exist for us to cast a private and truly secret ballot! Security should
not supersede our right to cast a private and truly secret ballot.


-- 

**Private voting is a right, it should not require sight. 
<https://nfbmo.org/PrivateVoting>**



The National Federation of the Blind 
knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your 
future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low 
expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can 
live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.



 
<https://nfbmo.org/>