Visual impairment group joins voting fray
Federation chapter vows suit if county misses deadline

By JAMES MILLER     Daytona Beach News-Journal   June 28, 2005

In the see-saw battle over touch-screen voting machines in Volusia County, one thing seemed certain Monday. If or when the issue goes to court, it will be quite a tangle.

Over the weekend, a third group committed itself to a lawsuit should the County Council fail to secure a plan to meet a state deadline for voting accessible to people with disabilities.

"It is the law that we should have and must have accessible voting, and we're not prepared to wait any longer," said Kathy Davis, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Florida.

Following a vote by its greater Daytona Beach chapter, the organization will join the lawsuit promised two weeks ago by the American Association of People with Disabilities, Davis said. A representative of that organization said the group will sue if the council doesn't resolve the situation by a July 1 state deadline.

A special council meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday in the council's chambers DeLand.

Along with the Halifax Council of the Blind, the groups want the county to spend nearly $800,000 for 210 touch- screen machines meant to allow voters with disabilities to vote independently.

The state requires counties to have disabled-accessible technology in place for the first election after July 1, and the touch screens use an "audio ballot" with headphones and a touch pad so visually impaired voters can cast ballots without assistance.

But activists who want paper ballots say without a "voter verifiable paper trail" the machines are prone to untraceable electronic manipulation or mishaps. No such machine has been approved by the state yet. One local advocacy group for people with disabilities, the Handicapped Adults of Volusia County, has joined opposition to the touch-screen machines.

After endorsing contract negotiations with the machines' manufacturer, Diebold Election Systems, the council narrowly rejected the purchase June 6.

Some council members have expressed interest in printers to go with the machines, but those printers had not been presented for state review Monday, officials said.

Advocacy groups aren't the only ones lawyering up. Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall who, as a department head, uses the services of County Attorney Dan Eckert also has hired an outside attorney.

On June 24, the attorney, Diego "Woody" Rodriguez, sent a letter to Bruno saying if council doesn't approve the machines, it would force McFall to commit a possible felony or refuse to conduct elections.