Great article... dale At 07:04 PM 6/8/2006, you wrote: >Below is the coverage which appeared in our local newspaper on June 7th >after Dave and I voted independently for the first time the previous >day. > >The article and guest commentary appeared as two items; and I have copied >and pasted the text to a single message. > >Dave's initial idea was to write a guest commentary on the importance of >this experience to us; and the newspaper staff decided to do a story with >photos. > >The reporter interviewed us before and after we had completed voting. A >brief interview, complete with audio, is located on visaliatimesdelta.com >off a link entitled "Video Extras", and requires the Quicktime player. > >Pam > > >Visually impaired vote on their own >By Ryanne Persinger >Staff writer >Voting is now one less obstacle David McElroy and Pamela Drake will have to >deal with. >For the first time in their lives, McElroy and Drake, both blind, were able >to vote without assistance from friends or poll workers when they used the >audio option of a touch screen voting machine in Tuesday's election. >The voting machine at their polling station, Community of Christ Church at >2127 S. >Giddings St., allowed them to vote using headphones and a key pad with >Braille and large buttons. >"It's extremely liberating," McElroy said. "When you can go to the polling >place and cast your own ballot, it contributes to our participation in the >community. >"There was a time when I voted not by what I believed, but by what the poll >worker would have wanted," added McElroy, a retired Tulare County social >services employee." >Drake agreed. >"I think [the new system] will make me more interested and more motivated to >vote," >she said. "It means more when you're actually doing it yourself. ... It has >more of an impact." >Drake lost her sight at 4 months old, and McElroy has been blind his birth. >They've been partners for 13 years. >Both said the new voting machine is the most convenient way they have voted. >"Before, we had to go down to the courthouse and get an absentee ballot or >get the help of a friend or the polling place," Drake said. >Kim Shannon, county elections supervisor, said when a person is using the >audio voting option on the machine, the screen will read, "audio voting >enabled." >That way people walking behind a blind person won't be able to see who he or >she is voting for. >She added that voters do not have to be blind or have a disability to use >the machine. >One machine was at each of the county's 75 polling stations. >Cheri Olson, a poll volunteer, said using the machine is simple. >"It's like playing video games," she said. >McElroy admitted he was more interested in the voting machine than the >actual outcome. >"This is a boring election," he said. "I wasn't sure I would have come out >to vote if it weren't for that gadget." >The reporter can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] gannett.com. >Originally published June 7, 2006 > >Steve R. Fujimoto/Times-Delta >David McElroy was one of the first blind people in Tulare County to vote >unassisted. >They used the new touch-screen voting machines at Community of Christ Church >in Visalia. >McElroy writes about what the change means in a column on Opinion/ 6A. >How it works >Voters go to polling station, sign roster and indicate they want to use the >touch screen machine Voters turn in their paper ballot and receive a voter >card Voter card is inserted into the touch screen Voter uses headphones and >a key pad with Braille and large buttons The audio lists candidates names >After voting, a receipt prints > > > >COMMENTARY >Technology allows voting independence >There are certainly challenges to being a blind couple in a seeing world; >one has just been mitigated. >Tuesday, June 6, 2006. Election Day in California and Tulare County. Just >another in a stream of midterm elections similar to many in which we have >taken part for years. Similar, yes. Exactly the same, decidedly not. > >For the first time in our lives, Pam and I have voted independently. For the >first time, as blind people, our ballots were cast in secret with absolute >privacy. >Yes, the long-standing tradition of a secret ballot has now been made >available to anyone whose physical disability might preclude them from >marking a ballot in the traditional manner. >As active participants in civic life, unfettered access to the ballot box >has always been a problem. We could either depend on a trusted friend to >read the ballot and mark our choices at the polling place, request the >assistance of a poll worker or depend on the absentee ballot, again with the >assistance of another person. >For me, this issue really hit close to home not too many years ago. A highly >charged issue was on the ballot, and I was certain that the poll worker who >assisted me did not share my views on the matter at hand. This made me >extremely uncomfortable, as I had no wish to offend. Additionally, there was >always the possibility that others in the room would have heard my >selection, no matter how quietly I spoke. >Therefore, >being relatively certain of the fact that my one vote would have made no >difference to the outcome, I voted in opposition to my belief. Pam chose not >to vote at all on that issue. >In subsequent years, we have completed absentee ballots, initially with the >help of a dear friend, now deceased and more recently we've gone to the >elections office to complete this process. But as of June 6, those methods >have, at least for most elections, been consigned to the history books >thanks to the federal Help America Vote act and to modern technology. >On May 30, one week before the election, we went to the Office of Elections >and were given a thorough demonstration of the machine. A simulated ballot >was presented, depicting a primary election and listing names of signers of >the Declaration Of Independence. >After "voting" for one candidate on the ballot, Pam wrote herself in as a >candidate for President of the United States, bypassing Benjamin Franklin >and John Adams. The exercise demonstrated not only our ability to cast a >private ballot, but also to write in the name of a candidate should the need >arise. >How it works: Each polling place will have one electronic touch screen >terminal, along with the traditional ballots. This terminal can be operated >via the touch screen or push button panel, depending on one's needs. Anyone >may request and cast an electronic ballot. >For our purposes as blind voters, a little box resembling a VCR's remote >control is attached to the terminal. With the press of a button, vocal >descriptions of the ballot's choices are presented to the voter via an >earphone. The screen is blank during the process. Left and right arrows, >along with a "select" button allow us to move through the ballot making and >reviewing our selections, and ultimately confirming our desired choices >before officially casting the ballot. >The electronic ballots are stored in memory for counting later. >Additionally, there >is a paper readout available for hand counting, in the event of a recount. >It is our hope that this is the beginning of a new era. As active members of >our community, we look forward to it. >David McElroy and Pam Drake made Tulare County history on Tuesday as the >first blind people in the county to cast their ballots on Election Day at a >polling place without >The assistance of another party. They live in Visalia. >Originally published June 7, 2006 > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ >PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... >http://www.pc-audio.org > >To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >This list is a service of MosenExplosion.com. To see what other >lists we offer, visit us on the web at http://www.MosenExplosion.com
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