Responses to article

For clearing up how most disabled people would like to vote. Silly me for not consulting with you and your crystal ball to find that answer. I could have saved years fighting for the rights of voters with disabilities, alongside thousands of other New Yorkers with disabilities fighting for equal access at the polls if only we’d sought your wisdom first!

What amount of arrogance and egocentrism you must possess to be able to think, even for a moment, that you have the right to speak for what millions of people with disabilities would prefer. Let me tell you, as someone who has been fighting for more than 15 years for a fully inclusive electoral process that voters with disabilities DO NOT prefer to vote sequestered in their home by absentee ballot that may or may not be counted some time long after the election has passed and election results announced. And you see Mr. Nicols, I can make that statement because I know thousands of New Yorkers with disabilities who agree with it and who have been fighting to end discrimination at the polls for years. And, if you could be honest for a moment, you know they’re out there too!

So perhaps it’s time to quit your posturing and instead of looking for ways to circumvent the law, why don’t you look for ways to comply with it? Wouldn’t it feel good to do the right thing for a change?

I was encouraged by the reporter’s job in getting the overall story correct. For months, the media missed the point that the decisions being made regarding HAVA implementation have the most direct bearing on people with disabilities. Other parties maybe wanted to dismiss this fact, but the reporter, the US Department of Justice, and the Federal Judge certainly haven’t overlooked the access needs of 3.3 million voting-aged New Yorkers with disabilities.

An official of the New York State Board of Elections shouldn’t be favoring one style of voting technology over another in public. At best, they should remain neutral. I would certainly expect that they wouldn’t speak in a way that would pit one style of vendor against another, such as, “If we put one ballot-marking device in every polling place, I think that would be a nail in the coffin of the DRE.” This type of statement hardly suggests objectivity.

The comments spewed by Commissioner Nicols demonstrate a lack of sensitivity and awareness about people with disabilities. They are out of touch with reality and are as outdated as the full face ballot and lever voting machines that need to be replaced!

HAVA was signed into law in October of 2002. The US DOJ sued the State of New York in 2006 when it was clear that they couldn’t comply with its requirements by Primary Day 2006. Federal Judge Sharpe let the State off easy in 2006 when he ordered a simple “Plan B” for limited county compliance. However, the Judge has scheduled the next hearing and will issue and updated court order. All citizens will have to obey that court order or be held in contempt of the law.

I take serious exception to a comment made by Otsego County Democratic Elections Commissioner Hank Nicols as quoted in Tom Grace's November 27, 2007 article, "Poll Access For Disabled Heats Debate." Nichols states "Most disabled people prefer to vote by absentee ballot, not in polling places." Unless Mr. Nichols has personally interviewed all disabled persons in his county, and is privy to transcripts of similar interviews elsewhere in the US , he ought not to speak in such unsubstantiated generalities. I have one word for Mr. Nichols and anyone else who thinks they can take it upon themselves to speak for those who are tough enough to overcome severe physical challenges—don’t!

Just because until HAVA (Help America Vote Act of 2002) absentee ballots have been the only method for most disabled people to exercise their right to vote does not mean it’s their preferred method. I am a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, and going to my polling place and taking pride in publicly exercising my right and responsibility as a citizen to vote on every election day is my preferred way of voting.

Disabled citizens are not absentee citizens. Absentee ballots are not only the least reliable method to cast a vote, but they are rendered insignificant by the fact that they don’t even get counted until the election results are already finalized and made public. They are the voting method of last resort, and I think that all disabled people are entitled to better than that. So does the US Congress, which mandated handicapped-accessible voting devices at all polling places, the US Department of Justice which has sued New York State as the only state that has not yet complied with HAVA, and the New York State Attorney General who has already sued Otsego County for its failure to comply.

The right to a private vote is a basic civil right that all Americans should enjoy. Too often throughout our history this right has not been acknowledged. The easiest way to restrict voting rights is to place barriers that make it more difficult or even impossible for a segment of society to participate. This has been the case for Americans with disabilities and in particular with New Yorkers with disabilities for far too long. The Help America Vote Act is about removing those barriers and giving equal access to all US citizens. The fact that New York is the only state in the country to fail to comply with the federal law shows how much it respects the rights of all of its citizens. Recent statements by various county election officials implying that most people with disabilities prefer to vote through absentee ballots rather than using new voting machines is presumptuous and based on faulty assumptions. The fact that few disabled voters have participated in using the current electronic machines is more of a function of the fact that they are currently only in one polling site for each county and most of them are segregated from the standard voting area, hidden in out of the way halls or empty rooms with little or no signage directing voters to them. If the choice is between absentee voting ballots and a single, segregated machine for the ‘handicapped’ then I dare say it’s not surprising that people are choosing the absentee ballot. The Help America Vote Act gives all of us new, accessible, updated voting machines that won’t be a barrier to voting for anyone, that is the goal. The federal government has already given New York state $190 million dollars to spend towards this upgrade. It’s time for our leaders to stop playing politics with our voting rights and to lead us forward into the 21^st century.

Holland Patent, NY 13354
November 29, 2007

The Daily Star
Oneonta, NY
Letter to the Editor

In a recent article entitled "Poll Access for Disabled Heats
Debate", it is unfortunate that Otsego County Democratic Election
commissioner, Hank Nicols, compares the impending purchase of
technology that would allow individuals with disabilities a private
independent vote, to throwing money away and utilizes a luxury
transportation vehicle to try to epitomize that supposed waste.
It's interesting that the Commissioner chooses to use a
transportation element to do this since it is the lack of accessible
transportation that for individuals with disabilities wanting to
vote has always been a major hurdle to them getting to the polls in
the first place. If you don't have your own vehicle which many
voters with physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities do not,
you must rely upon public transportation or a ride from family or
friends. If you use a wheelchair and your borrowed ride doesn't have
a lift, you don't get to the polls. Many areas of New York State
are rural and do not offer public transportation and many older
residents with disabilities themselves no longer drive. If you
use a wheelchair and try to go out on election night which can be
cold, snowy and/or wet, it's not always possible to get yourself to
the entrance door of your polling site, let alone to the actual
machine to cast your vote. If snow and ice have piled up, if
pathways of travel have been used to park cars in, if accessible
entrances are not clearly marked and/or lit, it may be impossible
for you to reach your polling site. If you happen to have a visual
impairment, you already know that you're not going to be able to
read the ballot yourself so you know that if you don't bring someone
with you to read you the ballot, you're going to have to ask one of
the poll-workers to come into the booth to help you out. And you
better be prepared to have two (2) of those poll-workers squeeze in
with you because each will want to assure there is no undue
influence by the other in selecting your choices. If you can't
reach the levers on the voting machine, you also have to ask one of
them to pull levers for you. A totally cumbersome, non-private, non-
independent vote that is of course assuming you got this far. Is it
any wonder that the only way voters with disabilities have been able
to even get a vote cast has largely been by absentee ballot with
assistance?
Voters with disabilities would love to be able to go to the
polls like everyone else and cast a private, independent vote and
have been trying to. They've been telling policy-makers that for
years and years. Finally, advocacy paid off in 2002 with the
federal Help America Vote Act which once and for all addressed these
long-standing disincentives to voter turn-out. Lever machines are
now illegal for many of the reasons stated above. Technology that
allows for a wide range of voter impairment as well as limited
English proficiency has brought us direct recording electronic
machines (DRE's) and optical scan voting systems (OS). Each County
is now mandated to provide these accessible systems for all voters
once we get some certified. Because NYS has languished with
compliance some counties have only put in part of an optical scan
system in just one location per county for the most recent election,
a long way off from where we should be in providing accessible
voting for everyone. Until voters with disabilities can be assured
that their polling sites are truly accessible and that once they get
there they can actually cast their vote privately and independently,
then absentee ballots will still be an option.
It's important to note that a ballot-marking device is an
integral part of the accessible optical scanning voting system and
can be used by individuals who have low-vision, need specific color
contrast variability, need magnification, for those who are blind
and need the ballot read to them, and even for those who are
paralyzed with no little or no hand movement. The marking devices
also allow for non-English speaking voters to hear the ballot in
their own language so that they can cast a complete, intelligent,
private vote. These "hand-marked" ballots are then run through the
optical scanner, counted, and deposited in a locked box. Absentee
ballots by contrast are not counted as part of the election night
counts and in some instances days, or even weeks after the election
has been called when they are not needed immediately to break a
close race. As for Mr. Nicols' remarks on the nature of voting for
voters with disabilities, excuse yourself please.

Donna L. Gillette
New York State Independent Living Council
Systems Network Advocate
315.797-4642

It is unfortunate that Otsego County Democratic Elections Commissioner Nichols does not understand the basic civil right to vote in private. Over the course of our history, all sorts of barriers to voting have been put in the way for a segment of society. For New Yorkers with disabilities, the struggle i s continuing. New York is the only state in the country to fail to comply with the federal law known as the Help America Vote Act, even though the federal government has provided $190 million to New York State to upgrade voting machines to ensure accessibility.

The argument that few disabled voters have participated using the current electronic machines provided is disingenuous. The accessible machines are currently only in one polling site for each county and most of them are set apart from the common voting area, without proper signage. Mr. Nichols says that most people with disabilities prefer absentee ballots. A more likely explanation is that when there is only one segregated accessible machine per county, people with disabilities face obstacles to voting in person.

New York needs to remedy this problem so that people with disabilities can participate fully in the voting process.

Disabled are disenfranchised at election time

This letter is in response to the article of November 27^th – “Poll access for Disabled Heats Debate” and the quotes by Otsego County Democratic Elections Commissioner Hank Nichols.

Every Election Day, one group of Americans is still denied the basic right to vote: those with disabilities.

Inaccessible machines and barriers at polling sites long went unnoticed. There was some hope that this would change when the Help America Vote Act was passed in 2002. That law was intended to make sure that people with disabilities could exercise the fundamental right to vote privately and independently.

And no, Mr. Nichols, people with disabilities do NOT prefer to vote by absentee ballot.

And yes, Mr. Nichols, polling places are preferable to people with disabilities. But polling places must be accessible.

New York did not invite the disability community to the table and engage in a reasoned and forthright discussion. Instead, political networks put a significant amount of energy into bullying, coaxing and cajoling so that accessible machines are not certified and not in place.

And no, Mr. Nichols, no limo would be useful – unless of course it’s accessible.

Disenfranchisement of people with disabilities has a dramatic impact on elections. In New York, there are about 3.3 million people of voting age with disabilities. Only 1.3 million of them voted in 2000. This meant that nearly 2 million citizens with disabilities in New York did NOT vote in 2000.

We send our young people to fight and die for democracy on the other side of the planet. You would think we might have some level of commitment to the concept at home. Let's not allow people with disabilities to be excluded from democracy.

Susan Stockburger is systems advocate for Independent Living, a consumer directed, cross disability advocacy organization that has served the Hudson Valley since 1987.

I was distressed to read that Otsego County Democratic Elections Commissioner presumes to speak for people with disabilities. (Poll Access for Disabled Heats Debate, Nov. 27, 2007. Now that the new voting machines make it possible for people with disabilities to vote independently, there is no reason to conclude that most of these citizens still prefer to vote by absentee ballot. The true test will come when the new technology is available at EVERY POLLING SITE.

Voice&TDD (518)427 1060
Toll free in NYS 1 888 469 7452
Fax (518)427 1139 E-mail joe@nysilc.org

Lisa Tarricone
Systems Advocacy Director
Westchester Independent Living Center
200 Hamilton Avenue
White Plains, NY 10601
914.682.3926 (v)
914.682.0926 (TTY)
914.682.8518 (fax)

In your November 27 article “Poll Access for Disabled Heats Debate,” Ostego County Elections Commissioner Hank Nicols remarked that “Most disabled people prefer to vote by absentee ballot, not in polling places.” Curious.

In 1999, these same voters – the “disabled people” he cites who would prefer to stay home and vote absentee, rallied for their right to gain access to Ostego County’s inaccessible polling places which resulted in a lawsuit filed by the state Attorney General’s office against the county.

In the article Nicols also asserts that providing ballot-marking devises in every polling station would be “an enormous waste of money” since so few people would want to use them. Curious.

Hundreds of disability rights advocates, as well as advocacy organizations across the state, have worked consistently and conscientiously since HAVA was introduced in 2002 to partner with the New York State Board of Elections in mapping out voting machine accessibility standards for voters with disabilities. Advocates tested electronic and optical scan machines and compiled surveys with their recommendations, which were forwarded to state officials. Members of a statewide legislative advocacy network attended all the meetings held by the Joint Legislative Committee on HAVA and repeatedly issued their concerns to legislators that their accessibility needs be considered before drafting a final decision.

Aside from being egregiously misguided in his cavalier statements regarding how persons with disabilities choose to vote, he apparently hasn’t read Section 301(a)(3)(A) of HAVA, which requires that voting systems “be accessible for individuals with disabilities…in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and independence) as for other voters.”

I was reading about our polling places becoming accessible for all people and came across several quotes that are so often included where people who have a disability are the focus! "Enormous waste of money ..." and "Most people who have a disability prefer to use an absentee ballot."

Possibly Mr. Nicols needs to think on a broader horizon: he breaks a leg and needs to use a wheelchair; his next-door neighbor becomes blind from a medical condition; the elderly who need a little more help then they used to. Start seeing the people of Otsego County who have a disability as working people who have an important place in our society.

Why not place a special polling machine in a 10-mile radius and have people with disabilities go there.

I, myself, have always voted at one of our polling places. This has been done with the help of friends. This manner of voting certainly is not private as the curtain does not go around two people _ one in a wheelchair. I would think it is more like voting in the middle of the room with no curtain! I have only sent in an absentee ballot once!

I take serious exception to a comment made by Otsego County Democratic Elections Commissioner Hank Nicols as quoted in Tom Grace's Nov. 27 story, "Poll access for disabled heats debate."

Nicols stated, "Most disabled people prefer to vote by absentee ballot, not in polling places." Unless Mr. Nicols has personally interviewed all disabled people in his county, and is privy to transcripts of similar interviews elsewhere in the U.S., he ought not to speak in such unsubstantiated generalities.

I have one word for Mr. Nichols and anyone else who thinks they can take it upon themselves to speak for those who are tough enough to overcome severe physical challenges "" don't!

Just because until the Help America Vote Act of 2002, absentee ballots have been the only method for most disabled people to exercise their right to vote does not mean it's their preferred method. I am a wheelchair-bound paraplegic, and going to my polling place and taking pride in publicly exercising my right and responsibility as a citizen to vote on every Election Day is my preferred way of voting.

Absentee ballots are not only the least reliable method to cast a vote, but they are rendered insignificant by the fact that they don't even get counted until the election results are already finalized and made public. They are the voting method of last resort, and I think that all disabled people are entitled to better than that.

So does the U.S. Congress, which mandated handicapped-accessible voting devices at all polling places; the U.S. Department of Justice, which has sued New York state as the only state that has not yet complied with HAVA; and the New York state attorney general, who has already sued Otsego County for its failure to comply.

This letter is in response to the article on November 27^th regarding poll accessibility. I am a life long believer in thinking before your speak. That should go double when speaking for another individual let alone a group of millions of individuals with disabilities.

I hope Mr. Nichols will think twice before speaking for all people with disabilities. Everyone has the right to choose their method of voting. It is time New York makes that right a reality for all who want to vote at their polling site along with their peers, in their community.

A question for Hank Nicols (Star article 11.27.07): Have we met? We must have if I am to believe that you were somehow keeping track of people with disabilities who voted on the accessible machine up at the Board of Elections office! But I don’t remember you being there. Oh, but maybe I wasn’t counted because I don’t “look” disabled! And I wasn’t caught by the Disability Police, and I didn’t have to produce my Disability ID!

If this sounds absurd – it is not even close to your erroneous remarks quoted in the newspaper. I did vote on the accessible machine – I wasn’t the only one who did! Hmmm – how could that be if only one person in Otsego County used the machine?

Even more preposterous is the idea that people with disabilities prefer to vote by absentee ballot. Disability advocates know the truth is more likely that in years past we have been forced to vote that way because the polling sites themselves were inaccessible. I am sure you remember what took place a while back when Otsego County was made to comply with that law!

Oh yes – and about the limo service for people with disabilities? Sounds like a great idea to me! It would save me the gas for the more than 70 mile roundtrip I had to make to vote on the accessible machine rather than walk to my local polling site less than a mile away from my home. But I am not sure, as a taxpayer here in Otsego County (Yes Hank – people with disabilities do work) that I would approve of your using my tax dollars in such a way!

One last question for you though: What part of “It’s the law” don’t you get about complying with the Help America Vote Act?

I am from the Catskill Center for Independence and I have recently read the article regarding poll access for the disabled in New York State (11/27/07). I have only worked at the center for a few months and can assure you that of the people I have met many do not wish to vote through absentee ballot. It is only fair to do all we can to ensure constitutional and civil rights so individuals can make the choice for themselves on how and where they would prefer to vote.

Do you have a disability, do you know someone with a disability, and do you have any legitimate way of knowing how someone with a disability feels about his or her right to vote? I do know people with disabilities and have asked them what keeps them from getting out to vote. I have heard answers such as “I can’t pull the lever”, “I can’t see who’s on the ballot”, and most recently “I would love to use the new machine but I can’t get to that polling place.” If we had accessible machines in all the polling places AND made sure the people knew they were there I’m sure you would be seeing more people with disabilities voting.

In the November 27th article "Poll Access for Disabled Heats Debate", Hank Nicols, the Otsego County Democratic Elections Commissioner, is quoted as saying "Most disabled people prefer to vote by absentee ballot, not in polling places".

I would like to know where Mr. Nicols gets his statistics on how and where voters with disabilities prefer to vote. I'm sure he hasn't spoken with my elderly friend who uses an assistive device to walk. When it was suggested to him that he make it easier on himself and mail in an absentee ballot, he refused to consider it, pointing out the importance to him of not only being in the booth voting privately and independently, but of being in the polling place, interacting with the poll workers and his neighbors, and actively and publicly participating in the American political process.