The Roving Activist’s Blog

Here is an Action Alert that I have responded to. Please do so, as well. 

SSAN Action Alert

November 27, 2007

Write Letter to The Daily Star in Support of HAVA

ISSUE:

An article published on November 27, 2007 in The Daily Star, reports on New York compliance with HAVA and the upcoming decision by Federal District Judge Gary Sharpe to mandate accessible voting machines in every polling site. Please scroll down to read “Poll Access for Disabled Heats Debate” or access the following link: http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_331073146.html .
In the article, Otsego County Democratic Elections Commissioner, Hank Nicols, makes the following argument:

However, Nicols said he doesn’t believe the county needs to install a ballot-marking device in every polling station.

“I think that would be an enormous waste of money,'’ he said. Most disabled people prefer to vote by absentee ballot, not in polling places, he said.
Nicols noted that only one disabled person cast a ballot with the county’s current ballot marker during the last election.
“With so few people wanting to use ballot markers, we’d be better off driving them in limos to use the one we have,'’ he said.

ACTION:

We need to let Mr. Nichols know that people with disabilities do not want to vote using absentee ballots! People with disabilities have a civil right to vote on an accessible machine!

Mr. Nichols was in his current position when the Catskill Center and AG’s office sued his county for inaccessible polling places. Too bad he hasn’t learned anything!
Please send letters to the editor to: (Note: limit 300 words)
Letters can be e-mailed to letters@thedailystar.com, submitted through this form, faxed to 607-432-5707, mailed to The Daily Star, P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820
You MUST provide contact information so they can confirm your letter with you.

RA’s Note — Here is the letter that I wrote:

No Absentee Ballot for me!

Hello,

My name is Anita Cameron, and I live in Rochester. I read about the comments made by Hank Nicols, Otsego County Democratic Elections Commissioner, regarding people with disabilities and absentee voting. Mr. Nicols stated, “Most disabled people prefer to vote by absentee ballot, not in polling places.” Let me tell you what I think of this:

I feel that some officials may be using the absentee ballot as a tool to convince people with disabilities to stay away from the polls. Actually, I have seen this happen on a number of occasions. They tell people with disabilities how convenient the absentee ballot is, and how they don’t have to go to the polls. Then they tell the community at large, or the media, or perhaps other officials that they have no access problems, or that there is no demand for access.

In my opinion, absentee ballots should be the last resort for people with disabilities, not the first. I can understand if a person is homebound, in a nursing home, or is out of the state or country. Absentee ballots shouldn’t be used as a means for getting out of providing access to polling places. That is what I feel that Mr. Nicols is doing. How dare he presume to speak for me! If he were truly interested in the opinions of people with disabilities, he could have conducted a poll. Through that, he could have found out why only one person with a disability showed up at his polling place.

Mr. Nicols, I am a person with a disability who prefers to go to the polls and vote.  I want people to see me, and know that I exist. More important, it is my civil right. Stop making excuses, and do what is required by HAVA!

Anita Cameron
Rochester, NY

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Activism, Disability Voting Access. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.