New York's interim plan to make voting systems fully accessible to the
disabled this election year wastes money, possibly violates
privacy and causes others problems, an advocate for the
disabled and a local official said.
The state Board of Elections agrees. A federal judge will
decide the matter by April 20.
The state filed its interim plan Monday, a response to a
lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice in March. The federal
government filed suit after the state failed to enact the Help
America Vote Act.
HAVA, which took effect Jan. 1, requires states to eliminate
voting machine barriers for people with disabilities. Under
HAVA, New York must replace 20,000 mechanical voting machines
with electronic devices and create a statewide computerize
voter registration database. The new devices were to be
available by at least the Sept. 16 federal primary.
The state's interim plan for 2006 lets counties to continue
using mechanical lever machines as well as devices that
optically scan ballot markers.
"We are looking at levers in most places and some sort of
marking device that the disabled can use," said state Board of
Elections spokesman Lee Daghlian.
"Some counties can put marking devices in all their polling
places, or in just a selected few or in a central location," he
said.
For 2007, the state will have voting machines complaint with
HAVA in all counties, he said.
An advocate for the disabled called the state's interim plan
absurd. Christine Zachmeyer is chairwoman of the Election
Reform Committee for the New York State Association on
Independent Living and a member of the association's board.
"The interim plan does not meet accessibility needs of
persons with disabilities, it singles out people with
disabilities and is a waste of money," Zachmeyer
said.
The state's proposal to locate optical devices in central
locations that provide access "sounds like a nightmare. How
local races will be covered is anyone's guess? It sounds like a
real debacle," she said.
She said the disabled would find their privacy violated if they
had their own voting machines for 2006 elections. The problem
would be more apparent in small rural communities when only 15
to 50 people vote and fewer than five of them are handicapped,
Zachmeyer said.
"People would know how they voted as a group," she said. "HAVA
is mostly about access for people with disabilities. And who
will be harmed by the state's interim plan but people
with disabilities?"
Her association and other advocacy groups may file intervenor
briefs in federal court against the state proposal. In the
meantime, they have launched petition campaigns through their
Web sites. Zachmeyer's Web site is www.ccfi.us.
"We are letting both parties, the Department of Justice and the
state Board of Elections, know how we feel," she said.
Daghlian said the state "doesn't totally disagree with"
advocates for the disabled about the interim plan. "But we are
under court order to present a plan that gives some sense of
what we will accomplish this year and what we will do in 2007,"
he said.
"Is the plan what we want to accomplish? Probably not, but we
are under a court order. We had to choose something we felt was
doable; it doesn't cover every base," he said.
Marie Woodward, acting election commissioner for Schenectady
County, said the state's interim plan raises more questions
than it answers.
"The short-term problem is which electronic machine do we buy?
How many do we buy? Are these just one-shot devices? And how
do we train workers and the public before Sept. 16?" Woodward
asked.
Also unclear is the source to pay for the devices, Woodward
said.
Daghlian said counties would use federal HAVA money the state
received two years ago to help purchase new voting machines and
train and educate people in their use. Schenectady's share is
$1.78 million.
He was unsure whether the optical devices would be used again
in 2007: "It's possible they could be a one shot. Depending
on what counties get, they could use them with machines that
replace the levers. It's a difficult choice for counties,"
Daghlian said.