Categories: Letters
By Brad Williams
New York State Independent Living Council
A federal court order earlier this year mandated that an accessible ballot marking device be located at every polling place in New York state for 2008 primary and election days to ensure the state's compliance with the Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA).
In the past few months, New York has witnessed significant progress in implementing HAVA, the 2002 federal law which required states to replace outdated voting technologies (including New York's aging voting lever machines) and provide accessible voting for people with disabilities.
The state has compiled a list of accessible machines and counties are in the process of purchasing the ballot marking devices for the upcoming elections. The state has also begun to set time frames for the implementation of new voting technologies for all voters by 2009.
However, the decision to upgrade to accessible voting machines for people with disabilities now requires a shift in focus to ensure that all polling sites are accessible as well. A prior U.S. Department of Justice opinion states, "Having an accessible voting system does little good if voters cannot enter the polling place to use it."
When federal Judge Gary Sharpe issued the "one BMD per polling place" court order mentioned above, he also put the state on notice to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act polling place guidelines, which can be found at: www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/votingchecklist.htm.
There is no definitive study that evaluates the accessibility or inaccessibility of the state's 7,000 polling places. While some progress has been made, inaccessible voting sites still exist.
The New York State Independent Living Council is working in cooperation with the New York State Board of Elections to actively remedy sites that were identified from complaints NYSILC received on Election Day 2007. The current list identifies 101 polling sites that were investigated.
Some of the changes were relatively simple and required signage, while others were so involved that it required the moving of the polling sites. If needed, there are federal and state funds available for counties to get reimbursed for accessible modifications made to polling sites through a program at the NYSBOE.
Yet, the reality is that full compliance with polling place access guidelines won't occur until there is a strong state law in place that allows citizens the opportunity to evaluate the progress and to assess when the job is complete.
Fortunately, such a bill exists. Sen. William Larkin, R-New Windsor, is sponsoring S.6311, and a "same as" bill A.244 has been sponsored by Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, in the Assembly.
The purpose of the bill is "to update the state election law to be consistent with federal accessibility requirements, eliminate state polling place accessibility waiver language and include provisions to the election law to reduce confusion regarding polling places access requirements, and increase the likelihood of substantial compliance."
Additional provisions include the completion of an access survey for every polling place to verify compliance and submission of completed surveys to the state Board of Elections.
According to an American Association of People with Disabilities report, 1.3 million voting-aged New Yorkers with disabilities voted on Election Day 2000, out of a total voting-age population of 3.3 million.
While the 1.3 million turnout vote was modest, it paled in comparison to the almost 2 million potential voters, who, for various reasons, did not exercise their fundamental right. How many of these 2 million disabled New Yorkers were disenfranchised due to barriers at polling sites?
It is time to pass the Larkin/Cahill legislation so that Gov. David Paterson can sign it into law and polling place access can become a reality in New York State.
Brad Williams is executive director of the New York State Independent Living
http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2008/05/time_to_improve_polling_place.html