Action Alert — NCIL Voter Survey
SSAN Action Alert
May 22, 2007
National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)
Voting Survey
ISSUE:
The NCIL Voting Rights Work Group of the Civil Rights/ADA Subcommittee wants to know what voting is like for you in your area of the country.
ACTION:
Go to the Catskill Center for Independence (CCFI)’s link to the survey from their website (www.ccfi.us):
Survey on Voting for People with Disabilities
Fill out the Survey.
Click Submit.
Here is mine…
Do you vote by mail, early voting, or at you polling place on Election Day?: Yes
Are you able to get in the polling place? : Yes
Have you ever been allowed a private, unassisted ballot? If so, what type?: Yes
Type of private, unassisted ballot:
I was given a paper ballot back on one occasion. Though I could have used some assistance, I stubbornly refused, and completed the ballot on my own. It took me upwards of 30 minutes. In 2004, when I lived in Washington, DC, I had the opportunity to vote using a DRE (electronic voting machine). I liked the electronic voting machine much better because I was able to vote unassisted, and it was quite easy! I was able to cast my vote in 5 minutes, instead of 30. I love the DRE’s, and despite the stories of problems experienced by some people with disabilities with the machines, I, personally, had no problems using them.
What is your disability: I have severe visual impairments, and I use a wheelchair due to Multiple Sclerosis and osteoarthritis.
Please include anything else you feel is important.:
For many years, I have been fortunate to live either next door to a polling place, or within 4 blocks of one. Each of the polling places were wheelchair accessible. For the past 17 years, I have served as either an Election Judge, poll worker, or Election Inspector. I have done this in every state that I have lived in. In 1990, I was the first person with a disability to serve as an Election judge for the City and County of Denver, and was able to get the board of Elections to provide training materials in alternative format.
In Washington, DC, I served as a poll worker, and recruited other people with disabilities to serve as poll workers. In 2006, I was asked by the DC Board of Elections and Ethics to help train poll workers and precinct captains in disability awareness and etiquette.
I must say for the record, that I prefer electronic voting machines to paper or optical scan machines. While I do not like the idea of a VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail), I do feel that security and access are very important, and should not be mutually exclusive. The VVPAT must be accessible to people with disabilities! At present, there are problems associated with VVPAT that must be addressed and remedied. If our great nation can send a probe to Pluto, surely, someone can design a DRE with an accessible VVPAT!
There is a trend that I have noticed among poll workers, and even some election officials in certain areas of the country, notably, Washington,DC, though this issue has finally been addressed there. That is, people with disabilities are being encouraged to vote via absentee ballot, instead of going to their polling place, even when it is close to the voter’s home, and is wheelchair accessible. I personally met election officials who felt that if they got people with disabilities in their area to vote absentee, they would not have to make the polling places in their precincts accessible, or deal with people with disabilities. This is an illegal practice, and must end! People with disabilities have the right to vote at their local polling place, if that is their wish.
My final remark is this: People with all types of disabilities should not only be encouraged to vote, but should be encouraged to serve as poll workers, Election Judges, Election Inspectors, Technicians, and Precinct Captains. This would not only involve us in the political process, but would dramatically reduce the incidents of discrimination and maltreatment at the polling place that many people with disabilities have reported. When people see those of us with disabilities participating in the political process on multiple levels, they are less likely to see us as objects of pity or derision, and more likely to view us as neighbors. I, myself, have experienced this first-hand!
Thank you,
Anita Cameron
Regional Center for Independent Living
Rochester, NY