[NFBMT] ExpressVote: My Public Comment

Thu Aug 29 18:58:44 UTC 2019

Hello, 
I am just getting started with email.
What you are saying here, is our machine will be in a different part of the room? 
If this is the case, then I would feel good about it.
I would like to be in an area where with all of the chatter I would be able to hear what I am doing for voting.
I think it is a swell idea that folks know we have a machine to help us vote as well.
I will keep reading. 

Dar 
Every Saint has a past, 
Every sinner has a future, Sent from my iPad

> On Aug 29, 2019, at 11:18 AM, Denise via NFBMT <nfbmt at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Joy,
> 
> Does the Express Vote machine look different than a regular voting machine
> for the public besides the tactile keypad & audio output?  Why can't they
> design an accessible machine that has the same size ballots as everyone
> else?  In Corvallis the machine is away from the other machines.  Is every
> machine in the room going to be the Express vote machine?  If not then
> people will know it is for people with disabilities.  I don't know how many
> machines are at each polling place.  Every time we have gone to vote it is
> very busy.  Whoever makes these machines do they consult anyone with a
> disability or do they just make sure it is ADA compliant?  I'm sorry for so
> many questions but this is what I thought about after hearing your
> experience testing the machine in Helena.
> 
> We should probably talk about this at state convention & see who we need to
> contact with our feedback & questions.
> 
> Denise
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBMT <nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of BRUCE&JOY BRESLAUER via
> NFBMT
> Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2019 10:02 PM
> To: soselections at mt.gov
> Cc: BRUCE&JOY BRESLAUER <breslauerj at gmail.com>
> Subject: [NFBMT] ExpressVote: My Public Comment
> 
> I was at the ExpressVote demonstration in Helena on Monday, August 26, 2019,
> where I was introduced to the ExpressVote by ES&S, which will replace the
> AutoMARK for voters with disabilities.  
> 
> 
> 
> I was impressed with the machine.  As a voter with a disability, my concerns
> stem from the fact that I want my voting rights to privacy, secrecy, and
> security protected, just like any other citizen does.  The ballots used for
> the ExpressVote are not the same size as standard ballots, which means to me
> that those ballots can potentially be identified as having been cast by a
> person with a disability.  That is why I think it is imperative that the
> officials at the polling places incentivize the use of the ExpressVote
> machines by every voter, not just those with disabilities.  Don't stick them
> off in a corner somewhere where nobody can see them or know where they are.
> Provide a privacy screen for the voter.  Make sure the election officials
> know how to use the machines, and know how to instruct any voter how to use
> them.  My vote should pass secretly from my hand to the privacy envelope to
> the ballot box, with no other hands or eyes or minds interfering.  This is
> the right of every voter, including me, a right that most people take for
> granted and which I have had to fight for and have only enjoyed for the past
> eight or ten years.  I have not missed an election for anything since I was
> old enough to vote, and I cherish that right and privilege.
> 
> 
> 
> I also would respectfully suggest that if any decisions concerning people
> with disabilities are made without consulting us about what we need or want,
> that is disrespectful and harmful.  I know these machines were put through
> an ADA certification process, but I as an American citizen was not
> consulted.
> Someone without a disability should never make assumptions about what
> someone with a disability may need or want or prefer without asking us
> first.  It is unconscionable that we were left out of the process.  Please
> keep that in mind when making any future decisions concerning American
> citizens with disabilities.  We will not stand for being treated like second
> class citizens.  Nothing about us without us. 
> 
> 
> 
> Joy Breslauer, First Vice President, and Advocacy and Public Policy
> Committee chair 
> 
> 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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