![]() ![]() The advantage of the DRE touch screen voting machine was that all voters used the same system. Imagecast precinct bmd software#These first-generation accessible voting systems included the Diebold AccuVote, Election Systems & Software (ES&S) AutoMARK, and the Sequoia Edge. HAVA authorized the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to administer $3.9 billion in grants to the states so they could replace outdated lever voting machines by January 1, 2006, with either direct-recording electronic (DRE) touch screen voting machines or an optical scan system that included an accessible ballot-marking device. The First Generation of Accessible Voting Systems Therefore, when blind voters in California were not able to vote privately and independently at their polling places because of malfunctioning accessible voting machines, and when blind voters in Maryland were not able to vote absentee privately and independently because of an inaccessible paper ballot, federal courts found that they had been discriminated against under Title II of the ADA. In addition, the ADA provides people with disabilities a private right of action when they have been discriminated against. These regulations extend to state and local elections the rights guaranteed by HAVA to voters with disabilities during federal elections by requiring election officials to provide voters with disabilities an opportunity to exercise their right to vote privately and independently that is equal to the opportunity provided to voters without disabilities. Recent changes in US Department of Justice regulations have resulted in the successful application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in voting discrimination cases. In addition, HAVA does not provide a voter with a disability a right to file a lawsuit when her right to vote privately and independently in a federal election is violated instead, the US Department of Justice is assigned the authority to enforce HAVA. However, HAVA only applies to federal elections, and, as a result, there are currently some states that do not provide an accessible voting system for state and local elections. For the first time in our nation's history, the right of blind and other voters with disabilities to vote privately and independently was guaranteed. Advocacy efforts led by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) resulted in HAVA's requirement that at least one accessible voting machine be available in all polling places for federal elections. HAVA was enacted as a response to the problems that occurred with old mechanical-lever voting machines during the 2000 presidential election. Consequently, before HAVA, voting systems were inaccessible and most voters who were blind or had other print disabilities had to tell their choices to a sighted person and trust that person to mark their ballot as instructed. Prior to 2002, when HAVA was signed into law, there was no legal requirement that mandated the right of blind, low-vision, and other people with print disabilities to vote independently. ![]() Voting Rights for People with Disabilities It will also discuss the secrecy of their ballots. This article will discuss the transition from a direct recording electronic (DRE) voting system to a paper ballot and optical scan system that the majority of state and local governments have undertaken and the impact this change in voting systems has had on voters with print disabilities. However, the type of accessible voting system used and how it is implemented has changed over the past sixteen years, due in large part to a lack of federal funding once the initial HAVA funds were spent, and increased security concerns surrounding elections in the United States. With the passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), blind, low-vision, and other voters with print disabilities have been able to cast a private and independent ballot at the polls. ![]() Here is some history about the passage of the Help America Vote Act and what has happened since. She is our go-to person for voting issues, and she is also the deputy executive director for blindness initiatives in the Jernigan Institute. ( back) ( contents) ( next) The Changing Landscape of Accessible Voting at the Pollsįrom the Editor: Lou Ann Blake is a very busy woman. ![]()
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