[Nfbf-l] Fw: [fcb-l] Legislative Alert

[Sherri]

Sharing from our friends at FCB. As you will see from the message, the NFBF signed onto this white paper. Please give your reps a call.
Sherri
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Debbie Grubb 
To: fcb-l at acb.org ; gduf-l at googlegroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2010 12:58 PM
Subject: [fcb-l] Legislative Alert


Hello Everyone,

As I explained in my last two President's Messages for the White Cane Bulletin and during the last two Presidents' Meeting teleconferences, there is a move afoot to extend the deadline from 2012 to 2016 by which counties in the State of Florida have to make the current voting process mandated by law accessible to people with disabilities. Most of the county supervisors of elections and a few individuals who claim to represent people with disabilities support the deadline extension and support the House and Senate Bills that house the provision that will allow that to happen.  Their rationale is that in four more years there will be better technology  available to enable people with disabilities to vote.  There is talk of telephone and internet voting by then.  This may sound very agreeable at first hearing.  However, the State of Florida banned the use of the touch screen (dre) voting systems for everyone except people with disabilities because they believed that there were security issues with that voting system.  Experts in the field believe that the same security concerns plague internet and telephone voting options.  Besides that, we know that the Florida Legislature will not abandon the paper ballot option that is currently in place throughout the state.  As long as voters have to actually mark a piece of paper that is then scanned into a database, our technological options will be based on equipment with the capability of mechanically marking a ballot while still allowing people with disabilities the ability to vote in secret, verify their ballot choices and do so independently.  There is currently equipment certified in the State of Florida that enables all people with disabilities to vote in secret, independently and to verify their ballot choices before instructing the machine to mechanically mark their paper ballot.  That equipment is the AutoMark about which I have spoken and written many times.  All of us know that as soon as we purchase a computer, mobile phone or even an electric toothbrush and walk out of the store with it that newer and improved technology is ready to take its place.  If we allow the Legislature to extend the deadline by four years because of this argument, the precedent will be set to allow them to continue this process which means that we will continue to vote on the touch screen system which was deemed unfit for the general public in 2008.  The AutoMark has options that make the process of voting with a paper ballot accessible to all people with disabilities.  

One of the founding principles of this country is the ability to vote independently and in secret.  For many years, this process was inaccessible to us.  I well remember standing in those voting booths with judges representing both political parties.  I remember the first time that I voted independently and in secret with the ability to verify my ballot choices before submitting them.  Like many of you who have experienced this wonderful event, it is something that one never forgets, it is an experience that enables us to be equal with every citizen of this country.  The Florida Council of the Blind supported the touch screen (DRE) voting system because of the freedom and independence it afforded us.  We accepted the wisdom of voting experts when they told us that this equipment was not secure.  We agreed to the four-year time frame mandated by the Legislature to make the current voting process accessible to us.  We do not want to wait beyond the initially agreed upon deadline of 2012.  

NFBF, FAASB, BVA Florida Regional Group and the Florida Voters Coalition have signed onto the White Paper based on principles all of these groups agreed upon.  We have sent this White Paper and an accompanying press release throughout the State of Florida.  

What we need from you is for you and everyone you know to call their representatives in the Florida House and Senate to strongly oppose House Bill 7101 and Senate Bill 900, the Bills that house the provision discussed above.  

Please feel free to use any portion of this message and the attached White Paper as you make your argument against the extension of the voting compliance deadline for people with disabilities from 2012 to 2016.  It is crucially important that we make phones ring in the offices of the Florida Legislature all over the state.  

This is a civil rights issue.  Stand up and be counted.  

A good phone number to use if you need contact information for the legislators that represent you is (850) 488-1234.  Your local library or office of the League of Women Voters will also assist you if you are unsure of who represents you in the Florida Legislature.  

Your civil right to cast a secret, independent and verifiable vote now rests on the altar of political expediency.  Will you make your voice heard?

Respectfully,



Debbie Grubb, President
Florida Council of the Blind

debbiecg at verizon.net


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