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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>These are the proposed resolutions to be presented to the assembled membership and voted on at our 2020 virtual convention on Saturday, September 19.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h1><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Resolution 2020-01 Regarding Long-term Funding for NFB Newsline in Montana<o:p></o:p></span></h1><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, NFB Newsline provides blind Americans with critical information not duplicated or matched from other sources, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, The funding for NFB Newsline is less than forty thousand dollars a year; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) abruptly terminated funding for NFB Newsline in June of 2019, leaving blind and print-disabled Montanans without access to news and information that other Montanans access with ease; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, The National Federation of the Blind has temporarily funded NFB Newsline during the pandemic, but this funding is unsustainable and has ceased as of the end of August, 2020; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, The National Federation of the blind of Montana consistently advocates for the restoration of funding for NFB Newsline, with plans to use state funding through vocational rehabilitation or telecommunications access funding: NOW, THEREFORE,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in convention assembled this nineteenth day of September, 2020, that this organization call upon the Montana Governor and the legislature to fund NFB Newsline so that all Montanans may have access to news and public information on an equal basis with one another.<o:p></o:p></span></p><h1><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>Resolution 2020-02 Regarding Accessible Mail-in and Online Voting in Montana<o:p></o:p></span></h1><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, The ability to cast a secret ballot privately and independently is a cornerstone of our democracy that enables citizens to vote their consciences with confidence; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that voters with disabilities be afforded an opportunity to exercise the right to vote that is equivalent to the opportunity afforded to voters without disabilities; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, The use of mail-in ballots has increased substantially due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, Montana’s Governor Steve Bullock has said that “… no Montana voter should have to choose between casting their vote and protecting their health,”; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, Electronic ballot delivery systems that meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA, provide voters with print disabilities an accessible way to mark a ballot privately and independently using their own access technology; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, While Montana has had the option to mark a ballot online since 2017, the current electronic ballot delivery system is not accessible and cannot be used by the blind without sighted assistance, since it requires the voter to have access to a printer to print out, sign, and date the ballot and to return it by regular mail; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>WHEREAS, Some states, such as Delaware and West Virginia, have electronic ballot delivery systems that also allow marked ballots to be returned via email: NOW THEREFORE,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Montana in convention assembled this nineteenth day of September, 2020, that this organization demand that an accessible way to vote by mail or online be available to all Montana citizens with disabilities for all elections; and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black'>BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state of Montana work together with the National Federation of the Blind of Montana to implement an accessible online ballot delivery system that will enable marked ballots to be returned via email.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Joy Breslauer, Resolutions committee Chair<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>National Federation of the Blind of Montana <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Web Site: <a href="http://www.nfbofmt.org/">http://www.nfbofmt.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif'>Live the life you want</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind. Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they want. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>