Leslie Carrier talks with Shelby Butler, director of public policy and advocacy for empower: abilities and with Afton Harper, assistant director of advocacy and accessibility for the nonprofit.
Carrier: Thank you both for being with us this morning. So, first of all, just tell us about accessible voting options for those people who might need some extra accommodations.
Butler: I will start by saying that you can sign up for the permanent absentee voter list, especially in Greene County, that would allow you to get a ballot application each election cycle so you could vote at home. Now, that had already started, so that is too late to do now, but you would have gotten your ballot in the mail, you would have time to fill it out and then you would have to have it sent back in before the election deadline. The other way that you can vote, that would be for people that have a difficult time getting out of their car or with mobility, is that you can pull up to the polling place where it says curbside voting.
And in Greene County, we're really lucky to have signs now that actually mark, it's even a colorful sign, so hopefully you'll see it. And when you pull up to the designated area, it will give you a number to call, and two poll workers have to come out, one from each party. It could take a little while, so you do have to be patient, especially at busy polling places. You can take someone with you if you have a difficult time writing and want to fill out the paper ballot, but you do need a little assistance, you are allowed to take someone into the poll with you. And the other would be the accessible voting machine, which I will let Afton talk about.
Carrier: Tell us about the accessible voting machine and also central polling locations and what options are available there.
Harper: So, accessible voting machines, it's like a big computer that has a flat tablet like screen. When you approach it, you feed your little ballot card into it. And as you make your choices on the screen or use the little keypad next to it, if you have a vision impairment, it also has headphones, too, but you can use your own as well. And you can even change the background to a dark background. I prefer a dark background on those accessible voting machines. They're a little easier to see. When you have inserted it and made your choices on the ballot, it will push it back out, and you can take that and someone can assist you to or from the accessible voting machine to feed it into the ballot box as well.
Personally, I can't drive, so I love central polling locations, and they're an accessible way, at least for me, to be able to vote because I like to go in person and be able to get my little sticker. I will go in person and carpool with a friend or a family member or a coworker. Then as long as they're voting in Greene County, we can both go there and vote at the same location as long as they have everything we need, which all of the central polling locations usually have the accessible voting machines for me to use.
Butler: Just to add to that, we're excited that City Utilities is offering free rides for the bus system on Election Day, and the Transit Center, where all buses will go, is also a central polling place. There is the two-week period where you can vote ahead of time. So, that also could be a reason for people to carpool together. Or if you had issues waiting in line at a polling place on Election Day, you could vote early, and that's for everyone. But that would be especially helpful for people who have a disability.
Carrier: You mentioned earlier about if somebody had needed someone's assistance to help mark their ballot, so that do they need to indicate to the election judge that they're bringing somebody with them?
Butler: That could be helpful, just so they know. I don't think it's required, but we do encourage people to make a plan ahead of time. So, kind of look at the ballot if you're able. We also have a benefit in Greene County where we've had the ballots in Braille just for people to kind of, you know, if they read Braille, look at those ahead of time without having to go to the website. They do have those at the polling locations as well, or at least some of them. But definitely go ahead and figure out how you're going to vote if you have someone helping you.