New machines make voting fairer for disabled

By CINDY PARKER

Guest Columnist

The debate over voter-verified paper receipts for each voter may cause more harm than good. Indeed, I am convinced that the outgrowth of that debate, an effort to have the S.C. attorney general stop the State Election Commission from purchasing new voting machines, will prevent South Carolinians with disabilities from voting independently and privately in November’s general election.

Voter-verified paper trails may defeat the gains of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The federal law was inspired by the 2000 presidential election and aims to make voting easier for everyone, including people with disabilities. It requires that every polling place have at least one fully accessible voting machine by Jan. 1, 2006. People with disabilities who use wheelchairs, have limited manual dexterity or who have limited vision cannot use many voting systems currently utilized in South Carolina without assistance. For the first time, this new technology will allow them to vote without having to tell another person how they wish to vote.

The new voting technology is called Direct Electronic Recording. Section 301 of the federal law requires that Direct Electronic Recording must produce a paper audit trail. The Help America Vote Act states that “The voting system shall produce a permanent paper record with a manual audit capacity for such system.” It further states that “The paper record produced shall be available as an official record for any recount conducted with respect to any election in which the system is used.”

An additional requirement that new voting systems produce a ballot receipt for each voter to review would appear to be both beyond the mandate of the federal law and very expensive. If a ballot receipt is provided for each voter, both the Help America Vote Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act would require that each receipt be available in alternative formats, such as Braille or large print, so that people with disabilities will have the opportunity to review their ballots in the same manner as others. Machines with this extra capacity do not exist at this time.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators and representatives worked together to write the Help America Vote Act. The authors have written several responses to the debate over voter-verified paper receipts. In a March 4 letter to Congress, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., state: “Not only are such proposals premature, but they would undermine essential HAVA provisions, such as the disability and language minority access requirements, and could result in more, rather than less, voter disenfranchisement and error.”

In addition, any delays in the Election Commission’s purchase of new voting machines could cost the state $2.2 million in federal funds: In order to receive that money, counties must replace their outdated punch card systems before the general election in November. If the new machines aren’t purchased, more than 800,000 voters in these 10 punch-card counties would have to use this antiquated voting equipment once again, and many people with disabilities will not have the right to vote privately and independently.

It is my hope that all interested groups and organizations will work together with the State Election Commission to ensure that the new voting system is effective, secure and in place for the November election. Voting is one of the most important rights that we have as Americans. People with disabilities should not have to wait any longer to be able to vote privately and independently.

Ms. Parker is the voting rights advocate at Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities Inc.