[Colorado-Talk] Did lack of a printer prevent you from voting online from home in 2020?

[Dan Burke]

Good morning NFB of Colorado!

Senator Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge is again carrying a voting
access bill for Coloradans with disabilities, SB21-188 - Ballot Access
For Voters With Disabilities. The bill’s first hearing will be before
the Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee next Tuesday,
April 6 at 2 p.m. The bill would require the Secretary of State’s
office to devise an appropriate electronic return option for boaters
with disabilities using the current online voting system. In other
words, you wouldn't have to print anything. We will send out the link
next week for the hearing so folks can listen to the testimony.

Yes, the NFB of Colorado asked Sen. Danielson to sponsor this bill. As
most of you know, she carried our previous voting access bill,
SB19-202, which gave us a private, independent at-home voting option
-an accessible alternative to Colorado’s mail voting system. That
meant, for the first time, we could vote at home like our sighted
friends and family members, without having to ask a sighted person to
read and mark our ballots for us.

Many of us used that newly-available voting system in the 2020
primaries and general election. We can thank our own Curtis Chong for
his doggedness in working with the Secretary of State’s office to
ensure that the accessibility of the online system we used was as good
as it was. Of course, we tip our virtual hats to folks at the SOS for
being so responsive to accessibility concerns as they set up this
system.

But that system still required us to print out our ballots and mail
them back. After the two primaries and the general election in
November, it became clear the need to print two pieces of paper were a
significant barrier for blind and other voters with disabilities. Many
of us don’t have laptops or desktops at home, relying more and more on
our phones to do much of our personal business, like banking and
shopping. So why have a printer? And many of us who own a PC or Mac
still don’t have printers. Unless we’re running a business of some
sort or have print-reading family members, we have almost no need to
print. It’s really a digital world, isn’t it?

For example, Denver City//County  voting officials cite that more than
200 people logged into the accessible online voting system for the
November election, but only 14 printed ballots were received by mail
from voters who accessed the disability voting portal. It’s obvious
that this is because voters simply didn’t have access to a printer.
That is why we are asking for this change in Colorado law. We want
more blind voters, as well as voters with other disabilities who would
benefit, to be able to use this private, independent voting option
from home.

So, that’s the information part of this post. Now, here’s the request
part. tell us if you didn’t vote using the new online system in 2021
because you didn’t have a printer. Maybe you decided to have someone
fill out your ballot at home, or you took the leap to go to a polling
center to use an accessible machine there. Or even worse, you didn’t
get to vote in 2020.

I’m sure that folks on the list would be happiest if a lot of people
didn’t reply directly to the list. I’ll give you all my email so you
can share your experience by emailing me directly. Of course, the
information you provide may be helpful in the testimony we give at the
hearing next week. And we won’t use personal information of you share
your voting experience unless you say we can.

My email address is:

Burke.dall at gmail.com

Thanks all, and enjoy this lovely Easter weekend before us!

Dan









-- 
Dan Burke

National Federation of the Blind of Colorado Legislative Co-chair

President, NFB of Denver

"Blindness is not what holds you back.  You can live the life you want!"

My Cell:  406.546.8546
Twitter:  @DallDonal