I agree. The secure technology isn't there yet for voting online,
it would definitely be a nightmare.
Marcia
-----Original Message-----
From: msb-alumni-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <msb-alumni-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Steve
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2018 3:42 PM
To: msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [msb-alumni] Re: New voting machines a challenge for Michigan's blind
voters Paul Egan
It would be a security nightmare to keep the web portals secure, in my view.
But, it would be convenient.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lucy Edmonds" <lucyjean11@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2018 1:18 PM
Subject: [msb-alumni] Re: New voting machines a challenge for Michigan's blind
voters Paul Egan
I agree with you, Casey, and I have thought that for a long time. I
would be a little concerned about security though, as everything is so
easily hacked these days.
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 14, 2018, at 1:15 PM, kcmm54@xxxxxxxxx wrote:i
I think in this day and age they should have online voting.
And remember Jesus loves you.
On Aug 9, 2018, at 13:24, Tony Handley <tonydrummer@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I remember in 2016, when I voted at Atwood elementary, the machine
was broken down. When I got there they had to send one person from
each party in to the booth with me to make sure that the other
party didn’t cheat. I had to wait an extra 30 minutes for two people
to show up to help. This system totally sucks. They need to get
machines that are going to work. Thank you Fred for sending me this
article. I will definitely be in touch with Our county clerk before
November. Take care and God bless you. Tony 1978
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 6, 2018, at 9:27 PM, Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Fred,
This is disturbing -- actually the thing that bothers me most is
that the ballot is different from the other ballots.
Question: Some of the New Dominion machines have alternate methods
for entering your choices when the AVS mode is selected (Assisted vote).
Which methodology did you use? I understand they have joysticks
available that can be plugged into the tablet, or that it is also
possible to use the screen with audio feedback.
The last time I voted, they still had the Automark at my precinct,
but that was early last year, I think.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred Wurtzel"
<f.wurtzel@xxxxxxx>
To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 06, 2018 5:15 PM
Subject: [msb-alumni] New voting machines a challenge for
Michigan's blind voters Paul Egan
Hello,
Tomorrow is our Michigan Primary Election. I sure hope everyone
makes maximum effort to vote. We as blind folks have worked hard
to secure a secret and accessible voting system. Now, we need to
make our voices heard.
Since 2002 we have had accessible voting machines. The first
generation machines have been replaced. All counties have new
voting machines. Most blind folks are familiar with the old Auto
Mark machine. The Auto mark was the only machine which was used
in our state until this past November. It had some glitches, but,
for the most part, it worked pretty well and definitely afforded a
secret ballot.
Beginning in November in Michigan we now have 3 different machines
determined by which county you live in. The majority of counties
chose the Dominion machine. A vfew others chose the Hart machine.
Around 10 or 12 chose the ES&S machine which is the successor of
the Auto Mark and still works quite well.
In Ingham County we use the Dominion Machine. In November I went
to vote. To my dismay, I could not vote a secret ballot because I
could not figure out how to use the machine and the poll worker,
who was very nice and helped as much as possible, could not coach
me through it. Finally, I turned on the screen and lost my
secret ballot, but I did vote.
I went to Susan Aten, the Clerk of Lansing Township, where I live.
She sat with me for more than an hour and, still, we could not
make the machine work with the screen off. I, along with a lot of
other blind folks, talked to a lot of county and state folks,
along with others to help fix the problem. The week before last,
I went, again, to Clerk Aten's office with a reporter named Paul
Egan from the Detroit Free Press to see if the machine would work.
This time, it did work. It worked in a very clunky and
complicated way. I believe that anyone who reads this post has
the ability to figure it out. If you don't please contact your local
Clerk's office and let them know.
These folks are very dedicated to helping everyone vote and will
listen to you. We also ought to strive to push Dominion and Hart
to improve the machine controls and instructions to make them
simple and fast to use.
Here is the article by Paul Egan which was in today's Detroit Free
Press about my experience here in Ingham County which uses the
Dominion machine. I do not wish to deter anyone from voting. Just
the opposite, I want to encourage everyone to vote. I just wish
to alert you to the fact that the new machines are different and
for those of us who use the Dominion machine, it will be a
learning curve. I hope to help organize some training sessions
for blind voters before November and I encourage you to make an
effort to learn the new machine and to teach others how to use
them Please let me know if you wish to help organize a training session.
.
This article is a pretty accurate and good synopsis of the situation.
Paul spent a long time watching and asking very insightful questions.
If you are in one of the counties that use the ES&S machine, fear
not, it works pretty much like the old Auto Mark. It has been
improved to eliminate the ballot jamming problem that the Auto Mark had.
PLEASE VOTE!!!
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, August 6, 2018 1:06 PM
Subject: New voting machines a challenge for Michigan's blind
voters Paul Egan
New voting machines a challenge for Michigan's blind voters Paul
Egan , Detroit Free Press New voting equipment purchased by many
Michigan counties, includingWayne, Oakland and Ingham, is
difficult for blind people to use without help, advocates say.
Wochit Fred Wurtzel, who is blind, attempts to use new votingequipment in
Lansing Township.
(Photo: Paul Egan/Detroit Free Press) Buy Photo LANSING TWP. '
When millions of Michigan residents go to the polls in
Tuesday'sprimary election, many will'be be using new voting
equipment for the first time. Most probably won't notice
much'difference. But much of the new equipment' needed to upgrade
aging voting machines around the state and paid for with $40
million in federal and state money ' is expected to present
challengesfor blind voters. It's estimated about 221,000 Michigan
residents have a visual disability, based on a 2015 survey.
Until 2002, when the federal Help AmericaVote Act became law, most
blind people had to tell their vot
ne
g c
hoices to a sighted person and trust that person to accurately
mark their ballot for them.For more than a decade, blind Michigan
voters such as Fred Wurtzel have used an'AutoMark Voter Assist
Terminal, which had a touch screen and a keypad markedwith Braille
' among other features ' to help blind voters cast secret ballots
without having to ask for help. New Dominion Voting Systems
equipment 'now in use in most Michigan counties, including Wayne
and Ingham, but not'Oakland or Macomb' also has voter assist
terminals. But the keypads aren't markedwith Braille and some of
the instructions blind voters receive over headphones reference
buttons by what color they are, not where on the handset theyare
located. That's not helpful to someone who can't see. Wurtzel, who
is second vice president of the National Federation of the Blind
in Michigan, saidit's also not easy to figure out how to turn on a
privacy screen that would keep others from seeing his'ballot while
he fills it out. And'h
e
fo
und manyof the verbal instructions ' received through a headset '
difficult to hear or otherwise confusing. Casting a secret ballot
"is a fundamental right thatwe all expect," said Wurtzel.' Most
everybody takes it for granted. When he first tried the new
Dominion voting equipment, Wurtzel felt like he'd "beenthrown back
into second-class citizenship," he said. More: New voting machines coming
to Michigan:
Here's how they're different More: Michigan Primary2018: Voter
guide for Macomb, Wayne, Oakland counties He has since been able
to experiment further with the new voter assist terminal, through
the cooperationof Lansing Township Clerk Susan Aten. Wurtzel now
believes he will be able to use the equipment to cast a secret
ballot without assistance. For blind peopleencountering the new
equipment for the first time, "it's going to be a big challenge,"
Wurtzel said. Still, "I want to encourage everyone to do it,
becauseunless we exercise our right to vote, we're not going to be
tak
nh
s
eriously. Michigan counties got to choose between three different
types of new votingequipment ' Dominion, Election Systems &
Software (ES&S), or Hart InterCivic. Wurtzel said he and about 100
other blind people got to try voter assistterminals from all three
companies during a 2016 mock election the state staged in advance
of the procurement process. He said the blind testers were
unanimousin telling the state they preferred the ES&S equipment,
which was selected by Macomb and fewer than a dozen other Michigan
counties. The ES&S terminalswere closest to the AutoMark system
blind people were used to, he said. The Hart InterCivic equipment
' chosen by Oakland and about 10 other counties 'was even harder
to use than the Dominion equipment, Wurtzel said. Dominion and
Hart InterCivic did not respond to emails seeking comment. Fred
Woodhams,a spokesman for the Michigan Secretary of State's Office,
said the devices from all three manufacturers are federally
certified and compliant wit
t
th
eAmericans With Disabilities Act. Some communities began using the
new equipment in 2017, he said. "We have heard from some
individuals with visual impairmentwho expressed concerns about the
new devices that assist voters with disabilities," Woodhams said.
"Some of the people said they preferred the ES&S systemover the
devices from the two other vendors, or that they liked the old
ES&S Automark device that was used statewide before the election
equipment replacement.Still, many people with other types of disabilities
"give the new devices high marks,"
and prefer them to the equipment used in Michigan previously, hesaid.
He cited quadriplegia and'severe brain injuries as examples of
other disabilities that could be better served by the new
equipment. State officials"greatly appreciate their feedback and
will take their concerns into account as we work with the vendors
to improve the devices," Woodhams said. InghamCounty Clerk Barb
Byrum said it's "beyond concerning" that blind vo
ee
rs
have expressed valid concerns about the new equipment and she has
been meetingwith representatives of the blind community in recent
months to make changes ' some of which will require federal and state
approval.
Though the ES&S equipmentscored better than Dominion with respect
to blind voters, Byrum said she'd had problems with the level of
support ES&S provided for the former equipmentand felt she needed
to go with a different vendor. Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown
said Thursday she was not aware the Hart equipment had been ranked
lastof the three technologies by blind testers. Most Oakland
communities used the new equipment in 2017 elections and "I have not had
any complaints,"
shesaid. "I hope we don't have any problems," Brown said. "I don't
want anyone to feel uncomfortable voting. Wurtzel said that even
after getting throughthe voting process with the Dominion
equipment,'he is concerned the ballot he will turn in looks
conspicuously different from those that sighted peopl
wTo send a message,
iTo send a message,
ll mark. Though it would mostly only become an issue in the event
of a recount where ballots are checked by hand, "this is not a
secret ballot'becausemy ballot looks different from everyone
else's," he said. In Lansing Township, Aten said the new equipment
is less than ideal for blind voters who wantto vote in secret and
without assistance' especially during an inevitable learning curve
' but she and her staff will do what they can to try to make
thechange as seamless as possible. Aten said she's instructing her
election workers ' who aren't blind ' to use the voter assist
terminals to vote so therewill be more ballots that look similar to the
one Wurtzel uses.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. Follow him
on Twitter @paulegan4. Detroit Free Press, August 5 2018
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