Touch screens will ease voting for visually impaired
By SUSAN GILL    Guest Column    St. Petersburg Times
Published September 12, 2005

For the first time in Citrus County's history, visually impaired voters will be able to vote in private and without assistance. Fifty AccuVote-TSX touch screen voting machines were delivered to Citrus County in August. A touch screen machine will be at each polling location and early vote site.

The machines feature a standard telephone keypad with a raised indicator on the No. 5 key, accompanied by a headset and detailed audio instructions, to make voting private. A poll worker will be assigned to each machine to help if needed.

But the voice-guidance feature enables blind or visually impaired people to vote unassisted in complete privacy by sequencing through the entire ballot using verbal prompts. The AccuVote-TSX even allows voters to control the speed of the audio ballot. The unit's ballot magnification feature, which can be activated by the voter, enables people with limited sight to easily read the touch screen ballot and make ions. The complete system is portable and adjustable, making it accessible to people with physical limitations.

The machines meet the applicable requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act.

The system incorporates advanced security features. It underwent rigorous independent testing before being certified at both the state and federal levels. In addition, logic and accuracy tests will be conducted on each machine before each election.

Each machine operates independently. They are not accessible to wireless or wire-based computer systems, nor are they connected to phone lines or the Internet.

A poll worker programs a voter access card with the voter's precinct/party combination and then gives it to the voter. Voters will have a chance to review and change their choices before casting their ballot.

On election days, the system will continuously accumulate the number of cast ballots, and that number can be cross-checked with the number of registered voters listed in the poll book to confirm the accuracy of the election results. The system requires all machines to be closed by a poll worker before a tally of the precinct can be obtained.

Equal access to voting in Citrus County has been a primary focus of this office. Each year, polling locations are reviewed for physical accessibility. Precincts offer wheelchair-height voting booths and magnifying glasses. Our poll workers attend classes on conflict management, sensitivity and disabilities. The addition of touch-screen voting machines to our existing AccuVote optical scan machines makes it easier for all eligible Floridians to vote. Voting by absentee ballot is still an option, or voters can bring a person to an early voting site or the polls to assist them.