[NFBMT] LEGISLATIVE ALERT: SB 291 REVISE LAWS ON VOTING SYSTEMS AND BALLOT FORM

Wed Apr 3 15:56:41 UTC 2019

Hello,
Ithinkyouareabsolutelyright.
-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT <nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of president--- via NFBMT
Sent: Monday, April 01, 2019 9:40 AM
To: 'NFB of Montana Discussion List' <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: president at nfbofmt.org
Subject: Re: [NFBMT] LEGISLATIVE ALERT: SB 291 REVISE LAWS ON VOTING SYSTEMS
AND BALLOT FORM

Please ask our legislators to promote the use of voting machines by
everyone, not just voters with disabilities.  At this point in the
legislative process, this request is far more important than insisting that
the ballots used by voters with disabilities be the same as used by any
voter.  Voting privacy is our real agenda, and we must recognize that there
is more than one way to assure the privacy.  In summary, the NFB-MT should
support SB 291 so long as it clearly changes requirements to provide voting
machines for all voters, not just voters with disabilities.  

This voting stuff sure is complicated.  We know the Automarks are going away
and that there is no replacement technology that produces a standard ballot
and does everything else that's required as well.  It's a nationwide issue.

The reason election officials transcribe non-standard ballots to the
standard form is to produce a ballot that can be counted easily.  Privacy is
not the reason for the transcription.  If you think about it, the minute
election officials transcribe a ballot produced by a voting machine used by
a voter with a disability, the transcribers will know who voted and how that
citizen voted.  The problem is that so few people use the accessible voting
machines it's easy to tell who voted and how.  Since there are no viable
voting machines that produce a standard ballot available currently, the only
other solution is to get more voters to use the voting machines.  The more
voters that use them, the greater the privacy.  Plus, the effort speaks to
integration so that voters with disabilities would use the same methods any
voter could.  Of course, this would mean the voting machines would have to
be well-placed in the polling place.  Right now, most polling places offer
voting machines in a ghetto-like fashion, that is, the machines are set
aside only for the use of voters with disabilities, and the placement reeks
of segregation.  What we want is to have voting machines to be integrated in
each polling place so that they are private and attractive to all voters.
Essentially, we need to take the "special" out of voting and deliver
accessible and private voting that is integrated and effective for all.
Please note that this far exceeds a work-around.  The effort to integrate
voting machines that can be used by all speaks directly to the privacy we
seek.

Next, here is clarification on voting by mail in Montana.  Montana adopted a
vote-by-mail system that is accessible to and usable by voters with
disabilities through a law that passed during the 2015 Legislature.  This
means we have had a way of voting by mail for four years.  The system needs
to be tested to assure it really is accessible with blindness-related
technologies.  The NFB-MT will help out with the testing after the current
legislative session ends.  The way it works is that Montana election
officials mail to our homes a standard ballot and return envelope.  Voters
can download a ballot in a readable/writable PDF from the Secretary of
State's website, fill it out online, print it, and mail it back in the
election envelope provided along with the blank standard ballot.  The
non-standard PDF ballot is transcribed to the blank standard ballot by
election officials.  BTW, the nice thing about our accessible and private
vote-by-mail system is that is the same used by military and other citizens
overseas.  In other words, the current vote-by-mail system used in Montana
is already integrated, accessible, and private.  One issue to work out is
how this vote-by-mail system can be used for stand-alone school district and
city elections.  Sometimes, school districts and cities hold elections that
are not part of the larger state and county elections.  When school district
and city elections are held separately, there is no method in place for any
of the voting options we've been discussing.  That's a problem we need to
solve.

OK, if you are still reading --- I warned you this stuff is complicated ---
there is more.  SB 291 is being bushed by the Secretary of State Cory
Stapleton.  He has a pile of money he wants to use as matching funds for
counties to purchase replacement voting machines for the Automarks.
Therefore, there is urgency behind SB 291.  To be fair, it's not just
Stapleton who wants to move quickly.  Multiple leaders mention that they
want Montana to have new technology in place before the 2020 General
Elections.  The machine they have picked is the most popular in the US, and
it is a very good machine in all respects with the exception that it
produces a non-standard ballot.  Given how there are no alternatives at this
time, and given the building momentum to change our state's voting machines,
we have to make decisions now.  There is no way the NFB-MT can stop or slow
down the change by insisting on standard ballots.  Still, what we can do is
still pretty stinking cool, and it will create integrated, accessible and
private voting.  Main thing is that we must convince our state leaders to
take the "special" out of voting machines and to use the technology for
everyone, not merely voters with disabilities.  So, please ask legislators
to put this intent into SB 291.  This is the main point of our advocacy now.

Best!

Jim Marks
President, National Federation of the Blind of Montana president at nfbofmt.org
(406) 438-1421

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT <nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of BRUCE&JOY BRESLAUER via
NFBMT
Sent: Monday, April 01, 2019 2:29 AM
To: rjaquiss at earthlink.net; 'NFB of Montana Discussion List'
<nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: BRUCE&JOY BRESLAUER <breslauerj at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBMT] LEGISLATIVE ALERT: SB 291 REVISE LAWS ON VOTING SYSTEMS
AND BALLOT FORM

Another thing to consider is that as we go forward, they probably are going
to go to mail-in ballots for most or all elections, because it is cheaper.
And cheaper is the name of the game.

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT <nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of rjaquiss via NFBMT
Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2019 8:49 PM
To: 'NFB of Montana Discussion List' <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: rjaquiss <rjaquiss at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [NFBMT] LEGISLATIVE ALERT: SB 291 REVISE LAWS ON VOTING SYSTEMS
AND BALLOT FORM

Hello
     In Oregon where I lived, a disabled voter could use a website to print
a ballot that looked like the mail in ballots used by everyone else. If a
disabled person didn't have the proper equipment, someone from the county
clerk's office would come and bring equipment to the voter's home.

Regards,
Robert

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