[NFBMT] ExpressVote

[d m gina]

Will you be there tomorrow as well?
Glad you had the experience of the machines.
We will be at the court house here in town when it is time to vote.

Original message:
> I just came back from Helena to visit the ExpressVote machine.  As far as
> nonvisual access is concerned, it works almost exactly like the AutoMark.
> You can wear headphones to listen to the voice prompts.  It has a keypad that
> is quite similar to the AutoMark, with arrow buttons and a select key in the
> middle.  You can increase or decrease the volume and increase or decrease the
> voice speed.  You can also pause the voice output or turn off the screen.
> The machine costs around $3500 each.  A tabulator costs anywhere from $10,000
> to $50,000 to $100,000, depending on how fast you want to count the ballots.
> The ballots are a different size than the standard ballots, but if the
> polling place has a tabulator, it will not be necessary to transcribe the
> ballots onto standard ballot forms.  They plan to retire the AutoMARKS by the
> presidential election in 2020.  There is $750,000 grant money that is being
> used to purchase these machines and tabulators and whatever else is necessary
> to ensure voter privacy and security.  The grant money will be matched so the
> total amount to spend on all this is a million and a half dollars.  Each
> polling place will have one ExpressVote machine to start with, and presumably
> more when more money becomes available or if the demand is great enough.  By
> law the polling workers need to know how to use it and troubleshoot it and
> fix it if necessary, and they will direct as many nondisabled voters as
> possible to use it.  There is a model that can be placed on a desk and one
> that you can stand at, with a privacy screen.  If you use the screen
> visually, you can mess with the font size and the contrast.  Otherwise, it
> works like a touch screen.  The ballot displays on the screen and you can
> make your selections as you would with a touch screen.  There are two tactile
> pads to choose from for nonvisual users, one is like the AutoMARK and one has
> the choices "yes" and "no" in Braille on it.  That might be useful for
> someone who doesn't have finger or hand dexterity.  There is also a sip and
> puff feature.  These machines weigh about twenty pounds, and everything fits
> into a bag that can be carried around.  The AutoMARK machines are ore
> mechanical and therefore more subject to breaking down; these are more
> software driven and will have periodic software updates.



> They had two hours of demonstration time today, and they will have one hour
> tomorrow between 8:00 and 9:00 A.M.  Then they will have the certification
> ceremony.  Then they will take public comments afterwards from those who are
> there.



> I tried unsuccessfully to mess it up.



> If anyone has any questions, please contact me or Stuart Fuller, Elections
> and Voter Services Manager, Secretary of State's Office, by email at
> Stuart.Fuller at mt.gov <mailto:Stuart.Fuller at mt.gov> , or by phone at
> 406-444-4282, or by sending an email to soselections at mt.gov.





> Joy Breslauer, First Vice President

> National Federation of the Blind of Montana

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



> Live the life you want



> 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.



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