[NFBMT] Billings Gazette article on Voting

[Jim]

As a follow-up, Montana allows voters to go online and check to see whether
your ballot was accepted.  Mine was, and that's a good thing because I tried
the fairly new Electronic Ballot Request System (EBRS).  While EBRS was an
experiment for me as a blind voter, Montana considers the voting option
ready for prime time.  EBRS cannot be completed independently and privately
by a blind voter because it requires printing and managing printed
documents.  This means EBRS still requires a reader/scribe, and we need to
push for changes that would allow blind voters to use EBRS on our own
without the assistance of others.  This will take a change in state law, and
the National Federation of the Blind of Montana is dedicated to this
purpose.  The 2020 NFB of Montana Convention adopted a resolution on this
topic.

If you want to make sure your vote was accepted, go to the Secretary of
State's website.  On the home page, there is a link for this purpose.  It
requires filling out a form.  Here is the link to the website:

https://sosmt.gov/

If you have not yet voted, please do.




Jim Marks
blind.grizzly at gmail.com
(406) 438-1421
-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jim Marks via
NFBMT
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2020 3:38 PM
To: 'NFB of Montana Discussion List' <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: blind.grizzly at gmail.com
Subject: Re: [NFBMT] Billings Gazette article on Voting

Sure agree one should vote by any means.  None of the voting options open to
blind Montanans are bad ones.  Right now, the only way to vote in Montana as
a blind person on our own and without anyone seeing how we voted is to use
one of the voting machines in election offices or polling places.  The
Electronic Ballot Request System (EBRS) has a ways to go to meet blindness
independence and privacy standards, but the National Federation of the Blind
of Montana will see it through.  We have to change the laws a bit, but we
will get there.  The long proven method of using a human reader/scribe is a
perfectly good way to vote.  We want our privacy, though, and we will have
it.

Now that I have voted by all means available in Montana. I can say any of
these will get the job done.  Please do not lose confidence in our voting
processes.  They all merit our trust.

It's likely too late to give the EBRS a whirl, but maybe not.  If you do
decide to try EBRS, be sure to have a backup plan.  Voting is more important
than trying out a new method so near the deadline, which is Tuesday,
November 3.

Jim Marks
blind.grizzly at gmail.com
(406) 438-1421

-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT <nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Rik James via NFBMT
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2020 1:30 PM
To: 'NFB of Montana Discussion List' <nfbmt at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Rik James <rixmix2009 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NFBMT] Billings Gazette article on Voting

I don't quite happen to agree with it all.
In any other election, maybe.
But for me, now. I just voted with someone I trusted who could see the
absentee ballot.
I don't trust any of this accessibility stuff, not at this time. Not if I
want to be absolutely certain my vote got counted.
We took them to the polling precinct. We didn't mail them. Not with this
crazy business of messing with our good old trusted national postal service.

We stood in line. We had the poll worker look to see it looked okay. We put
them in the slot. I am confident that my vote was counted.
That is mostly ALL I so dearly and desperately care about.

The time for the wrangling about accessibility, and fixing it. That should
take place months, if not years, BEFORE an election. But most of the time no
one gets too excited until the pots on the stove and the water is about to
boil.

If a person has no one that they can trust to help fill out a printed
ballot. That is sad. But it is also something that takes time to arrange,
well in advance, should one not have a person in mind.
I agree with privacy, and rights of the disabled, of course I do. But the
urgency of now, I feel requires more certainty than privacy.

Disagree if you wish. I've just said my piece.
Thanks for hearing me out.

Now I am deciding not to trim my fingernails. I will need something to chew
on, come November 4th.

Rik





-----Original Message-----
From: NFBMT <nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of d m gina via NFBMT
Sent: Saturday, October 24, 2020 12:06 PM
To: nfbmt at nfbnet.org
Cc: d m gina <dmgina at mysero.net>
Subject: Re: [NFBMT] Billings Gazette article on Voting

We worked so hard to gt the machines going, No matter what else we can do, I
will stick with the machine.
There are to many persons who don't have computers.
I would still wish them to vote privately.
Dar
Original message:
> Hi All,



> The billings Gazette today ran an article on voting by Montanans with 
> disabilities.  I tried the Electronic Ballot Request System (EBRS), 
> Montana's voting alternative for absentee and mail elections.  The 
> article incorrectly reports I could not complete the process, but it 
> took a couple of days and required that I use a human reader/scribe.
> What we want is an online option that does not require printing and 
> management of printed documents so that a blind voter may vote 
> independently and privately.  .  We need a legislative change for 
> this, and Joy Breslauer and our Advocacy and Public Policy Committee 
> is on
it.  Below my signature is the article.





> 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.

> https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/covid-19-pandemic-
> highli
> ghts-barriers-to-disabled-voters/article_dcb89051-a91a-5257-bd7c-ab2d8
> d9e87b
> 6.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1










> COVID-19 pandemic highlights barriers to disabled voters


> .        <https://billingsgazette.com/users/profile/Juliana%20Sukut>
Juliana
> Sukut



> .       4 hrs ago



> .


> <https://subscriberservices.lee.net/subscriberservices/Content/Payment
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> spx?Domain=billingsgazette.com&SubscriberLevel=DOP&Return=https%3A%2F%
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> ghts-b
> arriers-to-disabled-voters%2Farticle_dcb89051-a91a-5257-bd7c-ab2d8d9e8
> 7b6.ht ml#tracking-source=green-subscribe-button&ir=true> SALE! 
> Subscribe for $1/mo.



> Jim Marks, president for the National Federation of the Blind of 
> Montana, poses for a photograph on Wednesday outside The Rocky 
> Mountain Development Council where he is the Area 4 Agency on Aging
Program Director.

> THOM BRIDGE, For the Billings Gazette

>  <https://billingsgazette.com/users/profile/Juliana%20Sukut> Juliana 
> Sukut

> The June primaries were the first time Jim Marks, a blind man, tried 
> to vote absentee in a Montana election.

> It was an experiment for Marks, who tried using the electronic ballot 
> system for people with disabilities for the first time.

> Montana voters with disabilities can use the Electronic Ballot Request 
> System to request and fill out an absentee ballot electronically for 
> federal and special elections with software compliant with the 
> Americans with Disabilities Act. The system has been in place since 2015.

> But Marks wasn't able to cast his ballot with the EBRS system.

> The system failed for Marks after a series of glitches that left him 
> exasperated. He ditched the electronic ballot and asked his wife to 
> help him fill out a paper ballot instead.

> During a normal election, voters in Montana with a physical disability 
> can find it burdensome, or impossible, to travel to a poll and can 
> rely on mail-in ballots as an alternative.

> But voters with visual impairments or dexterity issues who can't read 
> or mark a paper ballot independently are left out from voting 
> privately or at all.


> Voting from home


> Marks, like most people, would typically vote at a poll. But this 
> year, that's not an option for everyone.

> "People with disabilities are obviously disproportionately at risk for 
> serious disease if they catch COVID-19, so they're more likely to want 
> to refrain from going to the polls," Emily Shuman the director of the 
> Rocky Mountain ADA Center, said.

> Most of Montana is voting by mail this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

> Gov. Steve Bullock gave counties the green light to conduct elections 
> by mail for the primaries in June and again in August for the general
election.

> Forty-six counties are conducting mail elections, although voters 
> still have the option to vote in person at county election offices.

> Despite that, there's not a good alternative for voters with 
> disabilities who want to vote from home.

> The electronic system has one extra step that makes it inaccessible 
> for visually impaired voters and for some voters with physical disability:
> voters cannot submit the ballot electronically.

> "There's that gap," Bret Rutherford, the Yellowstone County elections 
> administrator, said. "That one last step they would need to completely 
> do it independent at home isn't there."

> Printed ballots must be returned by mail or in person. Visually 
> impaired voters either has to trust the ballot printed correctly or 
> ask someone else to verify that the ballot and secrecy envelope printed.

> "A lot of blind Montanans don't really have printers," Marks said.

> Others with dexterity issues or physical disabilities might need 
> assistance stuffing, signing or returning the ballot.

> "It kind of defeats the purpose of the privacy stuff," Marks said.

> The measures that Montana has taken to make voting more accessible for 
> absentee voters still rely on physical polling stations and paper and 
> need to be streamlined, said Beth Brenneman, an attorney for 
> Disability Rights Montana.

> "Paper is antiquated," she said.


> Voting bloc


> What's at stake in Montana is disenfranchising an estimated 143,500 
> eligible voters with disabilities, said Dr. Douglas Kruse, a professor 
> and co-director for the Program for Disability Research at Rutgers
University.

> Kruse analyzed data from the American Community Survey and projections 
> from the U.S. Census, and found about 29,300 eligible voters in 
> Montana were visually impaired and 81,700 had some sort of physical
impairment.

> That number is likely to grow, in tandem, with Montana's aging population.

> Despite the large population, the EBRS system isn't widely used. In an 
> email to Marks, the Secretary of State's Office noted that so far only 
> seven people had requested an electronic ballot. In the primaries, no 
> one used the system to vote.

> The Secretary of State's Office did not return several phone calls 
> with questions on accommodations for voters with disabilities, or to 
> answer specific questions about Marks' voting experience.



> Jim Marks, president for the National Federation of the Blind of 
> Montana, poses for a photograph Wednesday outside The Rocky Mountain 
> Development Council where he is the Area 4 Agency on Aging Program
Director.

> THOM BRIDGE For the Billings Gazette

> Marks, who lives in Helena, isn't worried about contracting COVID-19, 
> but this year he's choosing to vote absentee to try and help the state 
> work out its own kinks in accessible voting.

> Tuesday, Marks attempted again to vote using the electronic system. It 
> was going smoother than in June, but he was still running into issues.
> Halfway through completing his ballot he got an error message.

> "I marked my presidential race and marked the senate race and I got an 
> error message saying I couldn't mark two choices within the same 
> race," Marks said. He works for the Rocky Mountain Development Council 
> Agency for Aging, and is the president of the National Federation of 
> the Blind of Montana, an organization that develops policy and 
> advocates for legislature for blind and visually-impaired Montanans.


> <https://smlr.rutgers.edu/news/disability-vote-grows-to-38-million-19-
> percen
> t-jump-since-2008> A recent study by Rutgers University researchers 
> t-jump-since-2008> Kruse
> and Dr. Lisa Schur found that elections conducted by mail translated 
> to a higher turnout for people with disabilities, especially in states 
> that had no excuse mail-in ballots.

> Mail-in ballots aren't perfect for all people with disabilities, Schur 
> acknowledged. But the data show that the more barriers are removed 
> means an increase in voter turnout.

> With one in four Montanans having some sort of disability, that 
> represents a substantial voting bloc.

> "The size of the disability population in Montana means that their 
> voices make a difference," Kruse said.

> People with disabilities are fairly evenly split by partisan lines but 
> tend to value healthcare and employment issues greater-two key issues 
> in the federal elections and here in Montana, Kruse said.

> Common barriers to voters with disabilities are inaccessible polling 
> stations, poll workers or election judges that are unfamiliar with 
> accessible voting technology or accessible voting machines being 
> overlooked, Shuman said.

> In 2016, two-thirds of U.S. polling places had at least one error in 
> accessibility, and 12% of qualified individuals cited a disability or 
> illness as a reason they chose not to vote, Shuman said.

> "Voting for everyone is going to be difficult (this year)," she said. 
> "It's important that we not get so caught up in difficulty for general 
> voting that we forget that voting for people with disabilities is now 
> extra, extra difficult," she said.

> For counties that are conducting the election by mail, like 
> Yellowstone County, voters still have the option to vote at election
offices in person.

> "We have (accessible voting) covered in person," Rutherford said.

> Accessible voting machines, like the AutoMARK and ExpressVote, are 
> required by law in Montana to be available at polling stations.

> Although accessibility isn't always perfect in-person, either.

> Marks has had instances where the accessible machine was not working 
> properly or set up. One time, he recalls, the machine was still in its 
> box when he arrived to vote.


> Updating the system


> On Wednesday Marks successfully voted absentee using the EBRS system 
> after a back-and-forth with the Secretary of State's office following 
> an initial glitch. He still needed the help of his wife to ensure the 
> ballot and secrecy envelope printed correctly.

> The easy fix for him to vote independent would be a system where 
> voters with disabilities could request an online ballot and return it
electronically.
> That system would require a change to existing legislation.

> "The technology is here and easy to use," Marks said.



> Jim Marks, president for the National Federation of the Blind of 
> Montana, poses for a photograph on Wednesday outside The Rocky 
> Mountain Development Council where he is the Area 4 Agency on Aging
Program Director.

> THOM BRIDGE For the Billings Gazette

> Some Montanans overseas can send back ballots electronically through 
> the Uniformed and Overseas Act, a federal law that allows military or 
> overseas Montanans to vote either by email, fax or snail mail.

> "You could live two miles [over] the Canadian border and vote 
> electronically, but someone in Conrad with a disability cannot vote 
> electronically," Rutherford said.

> Montana legislature would have to adopt something similar to the 
> Uniformed and Overseas Act to make the EBRS system truly accessible 
> and
independent.

> That legislative change might not be likely, Rutherford said, but the 
> pandemic has further highlighted antiquated election laws and a need 
> to streamline the process for all voters.

> Opponents think electronic ballots could lend itself to fraud, or that 
> people who don't have disabilities will take advantage of the option.

> "It's a touchy situation," Rutherford said. '"Electronic and 
> elections,' it raises eyebrows and it'll be a fight in the legislature 
> for better or for worse."





> Kathy Marks, NCRI, NCRT

> Operations Director

> Office phone: 406-457-7323





> Rocky is your community resource for vulnerable individuals and 
> families serving young children during their early childhood and 
> seniors in their most challenging years.  Rocky ensures that families 
> have safe and warm homes. Please donate today by clicking on the link.
Thank you.



> https://www.rmdc.net/how-to-help/donate.html



> Please remember Rocky Mountain Development Council Inc. in your will 
> or trust.  For information, please contact me.











> From: Jim Marks
> Sent: Friday, October 23, 2020 10:08 AM
> To: Kathy Marks <kmarks at rmdc.net <mailto:kmarks at rmdc.net> >
> Subject: RE: Billings Gazette article that includes Jim



> Thanks!  I cannot read it.  Can you save to txt and send it to me as 
> an attachment?



> Jim Marks

> Area IV Agency on Aging Program Director

> Rocky Mountain Development Council

> jmarks at rmdc.net <mailto:jmarks at rmdc.net>

> (406) 457-7359

> www.rmdc.net/areaiv.html <http://www.rmdc.net/areaiv.html>



> From: Kathy Marks
> Sent: Friday, October 23, 2020 9:53 AM
> To: Jim Marks <jmarks at rmdc.net <mailto:jmarks at rmdc.net> >; Lori Ladas 
> <lladas at rmdc.net <mailto:lladas at rmdc.net> >
> Cc: Schaub, Katelyn <KSchaub2 at mt.gov <mailto:KSchaub2 at mt.gov> >; 
> Christina <christina.jason18 at gmail.com 
> <mailto:christina.jason18 at gmail.com> >
> Subject: Billings Gazette article that includes Jim



> https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/covid-19-pandemic-
> highli
> ghts-barriers-to-disabled-voters/article_dcb89051-a91a-5257-bd7c-ab2d8
> d9e87b
> 6.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1



> Kathy Marks, NCRI, NCRT

> Operations Director

> Office phone: 406-457-7323





> Rocky is your community resource for vulnerable individuals and 
> families serving young children during their early childhood and 
> seniors in their most challenging years.  Rocky ensures that families 
> have safe and warm homes. Please donate today by clicking on the link.
Thank you.



> https://www.rmdc.net/how-to-help/donate.html



> Please remember Rocky Mountain Development Council Inc. in your will 
> or trust.  For information, please contact me.
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