I did get to vote, but not independently

I lost the right to vote privately and anonymously in 1985. That’s the year I lost my sight. After that, I needed Mike to help me with a ballot. One time Mike was out of town during elections, so a polling judge from the Republican party and a polling judge from the Democratic party squeezed into the booth with my Seeing Eye dog and me — they both had to be there to confirm the ballot was being marked the way I’d asked.

After we moved to Chicago I got word that the city was sponsoring a free class at the Chicago Public Library to learn how to use new assistive technology that would allow voters who couldn’t see to vote independently. I signed up, put headphones on, and was introduced to a special handheld contraption I could use to maneuver the screen and hear my choices. I sat at the library for hours, getting a feel for the machine and practicing pushing the big button on the middle of the device to mark my ballot.

I was very excited to use this new technology to vote for president in 2008, and if you read my previous blog post, you know what happened then. Same thing last Tuesday. My polling place had the special equipment on hand, but no one there knew how to make the sound work.

A special poll worker was called to the scene last Tuesday, and she said I was the first blind person she’d worked with at a polling place. After flipping through the troubleshooting handbook, she plunked it down on the table next to me, announced there was “nothing in this book about talking machines,” and that was that.

Mike was done voting by then, so just like back in 2008, he signed an affidavit, guided me to a voting booth, read the choices out loud and I told him (and anyone else near enough to eavesdrop) who I wanted to vote for.

I called the National Federation of the Blind hotline when we got home, and the kind woman on the phone sounded surprised. The sort of assistive technology they had at my precinct usually works, she said. She took down my information, and then suggested I call my State Board of Elections. I did.

After a fair amount of time on hold, someone from the Illinois Board of Elections finally answered and listened to my story. “Were you able to vote in the end, then?” Yes, I said, making sure they understood that I wasn’t able to do it independently, and that the Help America Vote Act of 2002 mandates that voting systems provide some way for people to vote independently and privately, including those of us with disabilities. “You got assistance, then?” they asked. I told them yes, that my husband had signed an affidavit, that Mike had helped me in the voting booth. “So you were able to vote, then?” I said yes. “Okay, then, you’re all set,” they said, and hung up.

I called other hotlines after that. The woman at the voting section of the U.S. Department of Justice (Civil Rights Division) asked me for details, took down notes and said someone will contact me. The volunteer at the Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights under Law Election Protection Hotline asked a number of multiple choice questions, and together we came to the conclusion that the real problem here was not that the people at my polling places were uncaring or nefarious. They just weren’t trained appropriately. So here’s the thing: if the powers that be are not going to see to it that poll workers are trained to turn the assistive technology on, why bother having the special technology available at all?

I am not angry at the poll workers at my precinct – they wanted the technology to work for me, they just didn’t know how to make that happen. I am just disappointed to think that in my experience, once again, just like back in 2008, the whole idea of people with disabilities voting independently in this election was a ruse.