[NFBMT] Voting Problems

[marjorie gregg]

I voted by absentee ballot & mailed the ballot in my mailbox.
We live 14 miles from Ennis
Marjorie Greg

On Tue, Jun 9, 2020 at 4:57 PM president--- via NFBMT <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

> Yes, I voted by mail, and I am permanently signed up for absentee voting.
> This time, Kathy read and scribed my ballot for me.  Usually, I take my
> ballot to the county election office to vote with the accessible voting
> machine.  This time, I wanted to see if the online option works.  It did
> not
> for me, so I reverted to Plan B, which was asking Kathy to act as my
> reader/scribe.  Time was too short to go to the county election office, and
> I regard COVID-19 to be a very real and dangerous thing.  I think mail
> balloting is fine, but for blind voters, we need an online option that
> works.  That's why I'm likely to file a complaint to get the problems
> ironed
> out.  After all, the blind people of tomorrow depend on the blind people of
> today taking on the responsibility to make sure things like voting happen
> as
> they should.
>
>
>
> 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.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBMT [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Rik James via
> NFBMT
> Sent: Tuesday, June 9, 2020 4:21 PM
> To: 'NFB of Montana Discussion List' <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Rik James <rixmix2009 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [NFBMT] Voting Problems
>
> I used the absentee mail ballot to vote.
> Yes, with family sighted assistance.
> For reasons beyond purposes of accessibility, I just am feeling currently
> like a mail ballot is a better trusted way.
> The alternate  method,  as it has been described, seemed problematic.
> Although I did not pursue it with energy.
>
> Still, I hope that you were able to get a ballot cast in some fashion, Jim.
> Rik James
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBMT <nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of president--- via NFBMT
> Sent: Tuesday, June 9, 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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