[NFBMT] Voting Problems

[BRUCE&JOY BRESLAUER]

We voted, but we took our absentee ballots down to the county elections
office and ran them through the AutoMARK.  I would have loved to use the
online voting system, but right now I don't have a working printer.  If we
didn't need to have a printer, I would use it all the time.  I would love to
help advocate for such a thing.  It is becoming available in a few other
states.  If we could advocate for this and a touchscreen system that all
could use, including the blind and otherwise disabled, we would have the best
of both worlds.  Joy

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT <nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of president--- via NFBMT
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2020 3:52 PM
To: 'NFB of Montana Discussion List' <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: president at nfbofmt.org
Subject: [NFBMT] Voting Problems

Hi All,

Did anyone vote in the most recent primary election using the Secretary of
State's (SOS) electronic balloting system?  That system allows voters with
disabilities to request and get an electronic ballot in a writable PDF file
that can be completed independently with computer assistive technology,
printed, and mailed to the local election office.

I tried, but I did not get the code and link to the PDF.  I have no idea what
went wrong, but I completed all the steps required to vote this way.  I was
supposed to get an e-mail back from my county election office.  I never got
that e-mail.  I am going to file a complaint about this and see how to
prevent a repeat of the error, which I believe was a mistake or flaw in the
system and not something I did wrong.

It sure would be great to hear if others were successful or not with this
process.  BTW, it was hard to find and complete the steps necessary to vote
this way.  For some reason, most of the directions were in PDF files rather
than the easier-to-use HTML format of webpages.  The SOS says the method is
hardly used, and now I think there is a very good reason why most Montanans
with disabilities don't use this alternative voting system.  I gave it my
best shot, and it failed utterly.  We need to make voting this way a real
option, including changing things so that we do not have to print anything.

Please get back to me on this list or privately.  Thanks much!



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

You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back.



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