No half-measures for voter accesibility

To the editor: Independent Living, Inc supports the New York Association on Independent Living and the New York State Independent Living Council in their belief that neither voting system currently being proposed to the NY State Board of Elections by the Department of Justice meets the accessibility needs of voters with disabilities and should not be part of any agreement between New York State and the department. We’re aware of New York’s shortcomings regarding accessible voting systems, and we hope that this lawsuit will finally help to resolve the long time goals of achieving accessible elections in this state. However, there has been recent movement toward putting in place an interim system to provide accessibility for the 2006 elections. Neither of the two systems being proposed, ballot markers for people with disabilities to be used with optical scanning machines and a “vote by phone” system, meets the Federal Election Commission’s Voting System Standards or the Election Assistance Commission’s Voluntary Voting System Guidelines. We support NYAIL’s recommendation that full implementation of the accessibility law be postponed for one year to ensure fully accessible elections. We agree that implementation of these two systems being considered would be disastrous for voters with disabilities. We must ensure that the electoral process is fully inclusive and not squander it by making the situation in New York that currently exists even worse by setting a precedent of imposing inaccessible voting systems, even temporarily, on the voters of New York State. Michael P. Dunn Independent Living, Inc.