[NFBMT] Voting Technologies for People with Disabilities

Wed May 9 15:51:07 UTC 2018

Hello, fellow NFB of Montana Federationists. 

If you are interested or wish to attend, please read down below the March 6
meeting info for notice of another meeting regarding voting accessibility,
among other things, to be held in Helena on May 16.  I remember trying to
organize a trip to Helena or a comment in writing for the March 6 meeting,
but we all remember what this winter was like.  Most of us went into forced
hibernation and didn't stick our little noses outdoors for months at a time. 

Snip snip 

There was a State Administration and Veterans Affairs interim legislative
committee meeting in Helena on March 6 which dealt with voting accessibility
for people with disabilities.

The video recording is archived for anyone to listen to the meeting
afterwards.  This video recording will be posted to the SAVA webpage for the
March 6 meeting, which is at this link.
http://leg.mt.gov/css/Committees/interim/2017-2018/State-Administration-and-V
eterans-Affairs/Meetings/Mar-2018/mar-2018.asp
<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fleg.mt.gov%2
Fcss%2FCommittees%2Finterim%2F2017-2018%2FState-Administration-and-Veterans-A
ffairs%2FMeetings%2FMar-2018%2Fmar-2018.asp&data=02%7C01%7Csscurr%40mt.gov%7C
f7f14169fa564f867c4608d582e28a09%7C07a94c98f30f4abbbd7ed63f8720dc02%7C0%7C0%7
C636558831846408165&sdata=7BHU3mbAUdcQBBA2vo20B2z2rolH1XUmXxoj%2Bhoxkn0%3D&re
served=0>   

The following is from the March 15 Disability Rights Montana e-newsletter
regarding this meeting.

Interim Legislative Committee Discusses Voting Technology

After the Bush/Gore presidential election, Congress passed the Help American
Vote Act.  This sweeping law provided that all polling places must have
accessible voting technology that enables people with disabilities to vote
privately and independently.  It also appropriated funds for each state to
buy the accessible voting technology.

In Montana, Disability Rights Montana (DRM) and other advocates participated
in a vender fair to try different voting technologies.  Nearly everyone who
participated voted we purchase the AutoMARK machine for all the polling
places in Montana, and that is what happened.  Now, as these machines are
aging, the State Administration and Veterans Affairs legislative interim
committee are taking a look at the new technologies available.  On March 6,
the committee heard from national experts on accessible voting and  ballot
security.  One of these experts was Michelle Bishop from DRM's national
office, the National Disability Rights Network.    

Michelle spoke about the process on the federal level to approve new voting
technology and the importance of having many different representatives of the
disability community participate in testing new technologies.  Although it is
true that local election officials are focused on looking at new technology,
standards for this technology have not yet been adopted at the federal level,
meaning that many vendors have not developed machines, software and other
technology that meets any standards.  Those watching the process believe
standards will be in place by early 2019 and at that point, vendors will
start developing accessible processes for people with disabilities to use to
vote.

Until that time, our Montana counties will continue to use the AutoMARK.  We
strongly urge everyone who wants to use an AutoMARK, to do so at their
polling places. We want to hear from you if you experience any issues in
using the machine. 

In addition, we strongly recommend  all voters with disabilities take a trip
to the Montana Secretary of State's website.  On this site, voters can check
their registration status on the "My Voter" page at
https://app.mt.gov/voterinfo.  In addition, Montanans with disabilities can
go to the Electronic Ballot Request System page (or EBRS) and fill out a
registration card and a ballot electronically using their own accessible
computers or phones  at  http://sos.mt.gov/elections/disabilities.  Once
completed, the voter then prints out the ballot and returns it to the county
election office in security envelopes provided by that office. 

Exercise Your Right to Vote!

Montana will hold its Federal Primary Election on June 5, 2018.  DRM has
materials available to assist with registering to vote and understanding your
rights while voting.  If you have an upcoming event where  individuals with
disabilities might benefit from a training or materials on voting rights and
registration, please contact DRM. We may be able to provide a training or
informational materials at 406-449-2344 or advocate at disabilityrightsmt.org
<mailto:advocate at disabilityrightsmt.org> .

Snip snip 

Elections and Hazardous Material Incident Response Capabilities are Key
Topics for May 16 Meeting  

Election security and voting machines, as well as hazardous material incident
response capabilities, will be key topics of discussion when the State
Administration and Veterans' Affairs Interim Committee meets in Helena May
16. Several other topics are also on the agenda.

Water/sewer district elections top the agenda because recent legislation
revising who is eligible to vote in those elections has created a concern
about how to determine the number of eligible voters for petitions and
elections.

The state employee broadband pay plan will be next up due to ongoing concern
about pay disparities. The committee will receive a background report on the
history of the state employee pay plan, compensation policy principles, and
recent legislative changes affecting how jobs are classified, how
occupational wage ranges are set, and the relevance of the pay bands.

Following the pay plan presentations and discussion, Superintendent of Public
Instruction Elsie Arntzen will provide an informational briefing about an
education program for children in military families to help ensure some
continuity when their families relocate due to military assignment changes.

Election security will be a key topic during the afternoon session. Security
of voter registration data bases and electronic voting systems has been an
emerging issue nationally. Several committee members recently attended an
elections security conference in Wyoming sponsored by the National Conference
for State Legislatures and will report about the conference. Additionally,
the Secretary of State's elections director, Dana Corson, will address two
topics: voting by military and overseas electors and what voter information
is available to the public. The committee has also requested a staff
assessment of whether Montana's election laws need to be revised to
accommodate new voting system technologies, especially for disabled electors.

After examining these elections issues, the committee will switch gears and
examine disaster and emergency services. In the wake of a 2015 legislative
audit that found deficiencies in plans and response capabilities when there
is a derailment involving hazardous material, the committee will receive
briefings on regional HAZMAT teams and the role of state and local entities
in planning and responding to these disasters in more rural areas.

Following the presentations and public comment on these topics, committee
members will consider whether to develop committee legislation to address any
identified issues.

The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in Room 137 of the Capitol. The agenda and
available meeting materials have been posted to the committee's meeting
materials web page. Additional material will be posted as it becomes
available, so check back often.

Public comment is welcomed as scheduled on the agenda. The meeting will be
live streamed via the internet from the Legislative Branch homepage and may
also be televised.

For more information, visit the committee's web site or contact Sheri Scurr,
committee staff, at sscurr at mt.gov or (406) 444-3596.

Joy Breslauer, President

National Federation of the Blind of Montana 

Web Site: http://www.nfbofmt.org

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