[Iabs-talk] 2006 Election Marks a New Plateau of Equality for the Blind

[David Andrews]

>
>Reminder - call the NFB at 877-632-1940 on 
>election day if you encounter any problems while 
>voting.  Also, included below is an NFB press 
>release that was distributed on Friday.
>
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>
>
>
>CONTACT:
>
>John G. Paré Jr.
>
>Director of Public Relations
>
>National Federation of the Blind
>
>(410) 659-9314, extension 2371
>
>(410) 913-3912 (Cell)
>
>jpare at nfb.org <mailto:jpare at nfb.org>
>
>
>2006 Election Marks a New Plateau of Equality for the Blind
>
>
>
>
>Baltimore, Maryland (November 3, 2006): In all 
>that has been said about the coming election, 
>one largely overlooked fact is that the voting 
>experience of the blind will be private for the first time in history.
>
>
>
>James Gashel, Executive Director for Strategic 
>initiatives at the National Federation of the 
>Blind, commented, "I have been voting in every 
>single election since 1968, and never once have 
>I been able to cast a secret ballot in a general 
>or presidential election.  For me, voting was 
>never a welcoming experience, but rather 
>tension-filled and stressful, as I struggled 
>with the numerous restrictions of being a blind 
>voter; from the difficulty of finding a person 
>to accompany me to the polling area to wondering 
>how I would be treated upon arrival."
>
>
>
>Voting, like so many other interactions with the 
>printed word in the life of the blind, required 
>some assistance from a sighted person, or in 
>some cases, several sighted people.  Prior to a 
>1982 federal requirement that allowed the blind 
>to take a trusted individual of their choosing 
>into the voting booth, blind people who showed 
>up at the polls unaccompanied by a family member 
>or trusted friend had to be watched by at least 
>three other people.  A supposedly neutral poll 
>worker was needed to mark the blind voter's 
>ballot, and one observer from each political 
>party went behind the curtain as well to make 
>sure the poll worker didn't cheat.  Eileen 
>Rivera-Ley, of Baltimore, once commented about 
>her time in the voting booth: "It's like a party 
>in there."  Obviously, the result of this ritual 
>was that the blind voter's ballot was never 
>secret, and sometimes revealed to more than one 
>person, none of whom the voter knew particularly 
>well or had any reason to trust.  And according 
>to some blind voters, poll workers and partisan 
>election monitors sometimes took the opportunity 
>to make a last-minute effort to influence the 
>blind voter's decision.  "You're voting for who? Are you sure?"
>
>
>
>The Help America Vote Act, enacted in 2002, 
>mandates that each polling place in America have 
>at least one voting device that a blind person 
>can use without assistance.  Most voting 
>machines implement this requirement with an 
>audio ballot, which reads each contest to the 
>voter, who then makes choices by pushing buttons 
>on a keypad instead of touching a screen or 
>marking a paper ballot with a pencil.
>
>
>
>The opportunity of every American to a secret 
>ballot is not only a matter of individual 
>privacy; it is one of the many ways to insulate 
>voters from undue influence and to protect the 
>entire election process from fraud.  Gashel 
>added, "on Tuesday, November 7, for the first 
>time ever, I will proudly go to my polling place 
>to cast my vote unaccompanied and unassisted, 
>with the knowledge that a new plateau in 
>equality for the blind has been reached."
>
>
>
>Reminder - call the NFB at 877-632-1940 on 
>election day if you encounter any problems while voting.
>
>

David Andrews and white cane Harry.