[nabs-l] NABS Membership Call Survey

Tue Aug 28 03:52:39 UTC 2012

This website is very informative.  The following link takes you to a page
where they have links to several laws relevant to people with disabilities.

http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Laws

In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.
    ~Louis Pasteur, lecture 1854

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 10:48 PM, Stephanie H. DeLuca <sjhhirst at gmail.com>wrote:

> Heh, I mean Cynthia, sorry!
>
> In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.
>     ~Louis Pasteur, lecture 1854
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 10:46 PM, Stephanie H. DeLuca <sjhhirst at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> I'm excited to see that other people support the idea of getting involved
>> but sad to admit that it's a problem.
>>
>> My story is this:  In 2008, I went for early voting at one of the
>> designated places in Nashville.  When it was my turn, they designated a
>> polling machine to me.  Before I began the process, I asked about assisted
>> voting.  Maybe I should have asked about accessible polling machines?
>>  Anyway, he just said he'd have to help me and that was the only option I
>> had.  I turned him down and went through the process myself (I do have some
>> vision).
>>
>> It seems that the voting issues fall into a few categories:
>> 1) lack of knowledge of rights/responsibilities on behalf of the voter
>> 2) lack of training and knowledge of polling staff
>> 3) lack of a functioning accessible voting machine on site
>> 4) difficult-to-follow tutorials/instructions for the accessible machine
>>
>> For me, numbers 1 and 2 seem to be the biggest problems.  How do we get
>> the word out and how do we insure that the people at the polling places are
>> trained and that there is a funcitoning machine available?
>>
>> I like the idea about having demos.  Barring that, would it be possible
>> to record a tutorial and post it online?  Maybe by someone who has used it
>> recently?  I've heard that the tutorial provided at the polling place is
>> often not straightforward or easy to follow and that a blind user could do
>> a better job haha
>>
>> I think we should at the very least inform people of their rights.  I
>> think finding the federal law wouldn't be too hard, but some rules vary
>> state by state.  I'm having trouble tracking down the information for TN,
>> for example.  Anyway, here is the federal law (I think).
>>
>> *Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act*
>>
>> The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984
>> generally requires polling places across the United States to be physically
>> accessible to people with disabilities for federal elections. Where no
>> accessible location is available to serve as a polling place, a political
>> subdivision must provide an alternate means of casting a ballot on the day
>> of the election. This law also requires states to make available
>> registration and voting aids for disabled and elderly voters, including
>> information by TTYs (also known as TDDs) or similar devices. For more
>> information, contact:
>>
>> U.S. Department of Justice
>> Civil Rights Division
>> 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
>> Voting Section - 1800 G
>> Washington, D.C. 20530
>>
>> (800) 253-3931 (voice/TTY)
>>
>>
>>
>> *National Voter Registration Act*
>>
>> The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also known as the "Motor
>> Voter Act," makes it easier for all Americans to exercise their fundamental
>> right to vote. One of the basic purposes of the Act is to increase the
>> historically low registration rates of minorities and persons with
>> disabilities that have resulted from discrimination. The Motor Voter Act
>> requires all offices of State-funded programs that are primarily engaged in
>> providing services to persons with disabilities to provide all program
>> applicants with voter registration forms, to assist them in completing the
>> forms, and to transmit completed forms to the appropriate State official.
>> For more information, contact:
>>
>> U.S. Department of Justice
>> Civil Rights Division
>> 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
>> Voting Section - 1800 G
>> Washington, D.C. 20530
>>
>> www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting
>>
>> (800) 253-3931 (voice/TTY)
>>
>> It seems that the NFB has a lot of lawyers.  Is it possible for us to get
>> someone trained in law to help us with this one?
>>
>> Here is another good resource, the Department of Justice:
>> http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/drs/
>>
>> One question I have is, why aren't ALL voting machines accessible?  It
>> seems like this is more of a software issue.  Would it not be possible to
>> write accessible software to be used on all machines?
>>
>> One other thing is that we should encourage people to file a complaint if
>> they have these aforementioned problems this year and in the future.  We
>> (the NFB) should provide information on that, as well.
>>
>> While I think this is a concern for the whole NFB on a national level, I
>> think as students, we are in a good spot to target new voters and college
>> students who have not voted before.  Maybe we could draft a brochure about
>> rights and responsibilities and general information (maybe even for people
>> who aren't blind but are disabled?) and make sure it gets distributed at
>> voter registration drives going on campus.
>>
>> Cindy also makes a good point about getting to the voting place.  Also,
>> this will become even more difficult in many states that require valid
>> state IDs (like TN, AL, AR, etc.).  How should we deal with this?
>>
>> In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind.
>>     ~Louis Pasteur, lecture 1854
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 5:58 PM, Cynthia Bennett <clb5590 at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Stephanie:
>>>
>>> That is a great idea. I had a similar experience as Josh as I voted in
>>> my first election. They were the 2008 primaries, and I was very
>>> excited. When the machine did not work, I asked a poll worker to
>>> assist me. They filled in the ballot as I wished, but the worker did
>>> make some comments about their preference on a politician. This
>>> occured when I said that I did not want to vote for a particular
>>> office, because I was unfamiliar with any of the candidates. I said
>>> something like, "I don't want to fill in anything for this," and the
>>> worker responded with "Oh, I heard that ___ is pretty good. Do you
>>> want me to fill in his/her name?" I chose to still not vote for that
>>> particular office. This practice is illegal, and I chose not to say
>>> anything about it. But I do think that an informational call about
>>> rights and accessible voting machines would be awesome. Unfortunately,
>>> each state is a little different, but information about federal
>>> mandates on the presence of accessible voting machines/rights and some
>>> typical patterns in accessible voting in states would be great. For
>>> example, Washington conducts mail ballots. There are a few precincts
>>> around town, but if you work in a neighborhood in which it takes a
>>> while to get to a precinct, you are at a disadvantage as a blind
>>> person. So, you can either take off work and use public transportation
>>> to navigate to one of the few and very busy precincts and wait in a
>>> 3-hour line, or you can find a reader and disclose your voting
>>> preferences. The other animal in this issue is that if you choose to
>>> get a reader to fill out your signature does not match the signature
>>> on your state ID which is kept on file, then your ballot can be deemed
>>> as false and not counted. As a blind person, I do the best I can with
>>> my signature, but I do think that even the most ambitious blind people
>>> are at a disadvantage when having to match a signature, and our
>>> ballots could not be counted, and we may not hear about it, or we
>>> would learn of it after elections are closed. If we are afraid that
>>> our signature may not match that of our state ID, then we can have 2
>>> witnesses sign. But that is 2 more people that have to see my ballot.
>>> I do not think that this practice is common within the states, and I
>>> would definitely not like my experience to dominate the nature of the
>>> call, but I wanted to relay it to show that I think this is a very
>>> good idea. I would personally like some professional/legal
>>> advice/legal suggestions on how this can be changed.
>>>
>>> So, if you have any suggestions on people to conduct this call, or
>>> resources for where this information can be found, please share it. If
>>> not, the membership committee will certainly take the initiative to
>>> conduct an informative call if we do in fact decide to pursue this
>>> topic. But I wanted to make sure that since you made the suggestion,
>>> you are welcome to provide suggestions on people to conduct the call.
>>>
>>> I know that someone comes to each NC state convention with an
>>> accessible voting machine to show in the exhibit hall. During this
>>> time, people can vote in a fake election and orient themselves to the
>>> machine. I am not sure if NC is still doing this since it has been a
>>> few years since the accessible machines were introduced, but I think
>>> there is still a need for outreach about accessible voting.
>>>
>>> Keep the good membership call suggestions coming!
>>> Cindy
>>>
>>> On 8/27/12, Joshua Lester <JLester8462 at pccuaedu.onmicrosoft.com> wrote:
>>> > Hi, Stephanie!
>>> > That's a great idea!
>>> > I went to my voting site, earlier this year, and the machine didn't
>>> work.
>>> > My Disability Rights person that works for the governor, here said
>>> he'd come
>>> > down, to show them how to work it, but he never showed up!
>>> > Thanks, Joshua
>>> > ________________________________________
>>> > From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf
>>> of
>>> > Stephanie DeLuca [sjhhirst at gmail.com]
>>> > Sent: Monday, August 27, 2012 2:53 PM
>>> > To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
>>> > Subject: Re: [nabs-l] NABS Membership Call Survey
>>> >
>>> > I think a discussion on voting as people with disabilities would be
>>> good.
>>> > Since a lot of people are on college campuses, it'd be a good
>>> opportunity to
>>> > get involved with informing people with disabilities (mainly VI) about
>>> > rights and responsibilities for voting.  I've been to/worked at several
>>> > voter registration drives, and I have NEVER seen information on voting
>>> if
>>> > you have a disability.
>>> >
>>> > On Aug 27, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Cody Bair <codyjbair at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Hi All,
>>> >> As you are probably already aware, NABS conducts monthly membership
>>> calls.
>>> >> In order to get this school year started we are currently seeking your
>>> >> input on what topics you would like to see us cover this year. Please
>>> >> either reply directly to this thread with your suggestions or mail
>>> them
>>> >> directly to
>>> >> Nabs.membership at gmail.com
>>> >> Sincerely,
>>> >> The NABS membership Committee
>>> >>
>>> >>
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Cynthia Bennett
>>> B.A. Psychology, UNC Wilmington
>>>
>>> clb5590 at gmail.com
>>> 828.989.5383
>>>
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>>
>>
>