[acbny-l] Re: the voting machine question
- From: "John R. Jeavons" <jeavons@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <acbny-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 03:14:35 -0400
HI, Mike.
This is one for either election lawyers, or the Board of Elections, or =
its commissioner to respond to... and is a question that must be =
answered.
I have a related concern that, rather than replacing all voting machines =
with accessible ones, that there will be placed "special" accessible =
machines for voters who for some reason cannot use the "normal" =
(present) voting machines. given the staff I have met at elections over =
the years, I would expect numerous problems from the elections staff =
about using the accessible machine, starting with "how does this work" =
continuing through "who is allowed/required" to use these", and "you =
can't use that machine; you have to use the one at our table", and going =
all the way through "do we have to count these?" and How do we count =
these?".
If there is only one accessible voting machine per polling place, which =
is what I expect given what I know at this moment, then it will be =
necessary to tell the machine which ED/AD you are voting from and to =
pass those ballots back to the appropriate ED/AD vote tally people.
If the level of training for staff with whatever new machine is chosen =
and whatever procedures are put in place is as thorough and =
comprehensive as the election staff I have often encountered obviously =
received, then there are numerous opportunities for misconception, =
error, confusion and intentional or unintentional exclusion of votes =
cast on accessible machines from the counting of votes in their =
respective districts.
Maybe its time to humbly secure the professional opinion of an election =
lawyer?
John Jeavons
-----Original Message-----
From: acbny-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:acbny-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Mike Godino
Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2003 6:05 PM
To: ACBNY
Subject: [acbny-l] the voting machine question
Hi Sherry and others,
It's always nice to work with others when it comes to access, however, I =
asked several question in my last message that still have not been =
answered. If the ILs in Westchester work with the legislators and =
convince the county to buy an accessible voting plan for the whole =
county, how can you be sure that your vote will count on the state =
level? If the voting machine purchased by the county is not certified =
by the state or is not a full-face ballot machine, the votes made on the =
machine are and or will not be valid in a state election, and therefore, =
the votes will not be passed on to the national election. =20
So now, I ask my question again, on a full-face ballot machine, using a =
scrolling menu to read the ballot, do to the inaccessibility of the =
full-face ballot, will my vote count? How can we as blind and VI people =
know what to advocate for if this question can not be answered?
politely seeking knowledge,
Mike Godino =20
Other related posts:
