 |
Home | Contact Us | Press Room | Site Overview | Help | Login | Register |
 |
 |
| About NCSL | State & Federal Issues | Legislatures | Legislative Staff | Meetings | Bookstore | Legislators & Staff Only |
| NCSL Home > State & Federal Issues: Issue Areas > Elections, Campaigns & Redistricting > | Add to MyNCSL |
Appendix D-Testimonial of James C. DicksonMister Chairman, distinguished panelists: I am Jim Dickson. I have worked on elections for over thirty years, ten as a volunteer and twenty as a professional. Currently, I am Chair of the Disabled Vote Project, a coalition of 36 national disability-related organizations that worked for over a year to increase the political participation of Americans with disabilities. New York State was one of our most successful states, with broad participation from organizations representing sensory, physical and mental disabilities. I am also Vice President of the National Organization on Disability. Over 14 million voters with disabilities cast their vote in the 2000 presidential election. This was an increase of more than 2.7 million from the 1996 election. Unfortunately, more than 21 million voting aged people with disabilities did not cast a ballot. A recent Harris Poll survey commissioned by the National Organization on Disability found that about 40% of people with disabilities voted in the November election. This is up from 30% in the 1996 election, but still far below the national average of about 51% of the public voting. The low voter turnout of people with disabilities is due to a number of causes, but a major piece of the problem is inaccessible polling places and voting systems. The majority of Americans take for granted their right to privacy at the polling place. According to the U.S. Census more than 10 million voters with disabilities are unable to exercise this right because their visual impairment makes it difficult or impossible to see print. These voters cannot cast a secret ballot; they must rely on the courtesy of family members, friends or even sometimes strangers to cast their vote for them. This is completely unacceptable. I am blind. Every day I walk down the street, catch a bus to work, get off at my stop, enter my building, board the elevator, push the button for my floor, enter my office, turn on my computer, download my emails, and begin my day at work. I do this every day, by myself. Millions of people just like me do these very same things independently. But when I got o my polling place I have to bring my wife or my ten year-old daughter with me. Someone else has to cast my vote for me. Once, after my wife cast my ballot, she said to me, "Jim I knew that you loved me, but now I know you trust me because you think I marked your ballot for that idiot." The point of that anecdote is there is always some level of uncertainty when another person marks your ballot for you. Twice in Massachusetts and once in California, while relying on a poll worker to cast my ballot, the poll worker attempted to change my mind about whom I was voting for. I held firm, but to this day I really do not know if they cast my ballot according to my wishes. We need accurate, effective, and accessible voting systems. These systems already exist. Money cannot be a reason to purchase inaccessible systems and continue the disenfranchisement of the nation's largest minority. Texas has already led the way. In 1999, the state legislature passed and Governor Bushed signed into law legislation that requires any new voting system purchased to be fully accessible to voters with disabilities, and the system must offer a secret and independent ballot to voters who are blind or who have low vision. (Texas Administrative Code, ยง1-81-81.55 to 1-81-81.57) This means computer systems with a simple adaptation that offers speech synthesis so that I, and others like me, can hear the ballot. Another simple adaptation is the use of special switches that allow voters who have arm or hand disabilities and are unable to hold a pen to cast their ballot privately. (See attached list of manufacturers who produce accessible voting systems.) According to the Federal Election Commission, 20,000 of the 120,000 polling places across the country are physically inaccessible to voters with disabilities. This means voters who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices across the country are unable to enter their polling places. In response to an online survey on polling place access, Carl Herr from Jamaica, New York reported that, "Although a wheelchair ramp had been installed, the ramp led to the door of the building which when opened led to an inside set of stairs with no modification to make them accessible." Around the country, the patience that the disability community has expressed, as we wait for polling places and voting systems to be made accessible, is running thin. There is a growing body of litigation. The courts are ruling that polling places must be made accessible. New York Attorney General Elliot Spitzer sought a preliminary injunction to modify polling place accessibility in an effort to bring the Delaware and Schoharie counties into compliance for the election primaries scheduled for March 7, 2000. The injunction was granted on February 8, 2000 by Senior Judge Howard G. Munson of the Northern District of New York. The suit followed years of informal efforts to work with the counties to achieve compliance. In a press release, Elliot Spitzer said, "This suit was brought because the civil rights of New Yorkers with physical disabilities were being violated and they were denied their right to vote. In addition, the elderly, and those who use a walker, cane, or wheelchair were also being denied a fundamental right of participation. This decision will ensure that their rights are maintained." In order to allow citizens with disabilities to exercise their franchise with the same freedom and independence as the rest of the population, I submit the following recommendations. 1. All polling places should be physically accessible to voters who use wheelchairs and/or have mobility impairments. Legislation should mandate a collaborative process between the disability community and election officials to inspect every polling place, and by a statutory deadline existing polling places should be made accessible or the polling place should be moved to an accessible location. 2. In every polling place there should be at least one polling device that would offer a secret ballot to all voters with disabilities. Any state funds used for the purchase of new polling equipment must only be used to purchase accessible voting systems that offer a secret ballot, and the polling site the equipment is placed in must also be 100% physically accessible. 3. The election community should conduct a coordinated outreach effort through the disability community in order to recruit people with disabilities to be poll workers. The nation must recruit and train competent poll workers. Most election officials report that it is difficult to find people who can volunteer the one or two days a year necessary to be election workers. 70% of people with disabilities are unemployed. 4. Poll workers must be educated about disability etiquette in their training sessions. They must learn how to appropriately serve voters with disabilities. 5. Any materials prepared by election officials to educate the voter on the candidates or voting procedures must be made available in alternative formats, so that people with visual impairments and other disabilities can listen to or read this information. Compliance with these points needs to be enforceable by an individual or organization's right to sue, and if the individual or organization prevails, they should be entitled to reasonable attorney's fees.
Accessible Voting Machine Manufacturers Hart Intercivic QuadMedia |
© 2008 National Conference of State Legislatures, All Rights Reserved
Denver Office: Tel: 303-364-7700 | Fax: 303-364-7800 | 7700 East First Place | Denver, CO 80230 | Map
Washington Office: Tel: 202-624-5400 | Fax: 202-737-1069 | 444 North Capitol Street, N.W., Suite 515 | Washington, D.C. 20001
