News from Around the Region
HAVA Activities in NH
In February 2003, members from the NH Attorney General's office, NH Secretary of State's office, Governor's Commission on Disability, Disabilities Rights Center, Granite State Independent Living, NH Association for the Blind, NH Health & Human Services, election officials, and information technology specialists formed task forces in order to address HAVA requirements. Active task forces include the HAVA State Plan Committee, the Statewide Voter Registration Database Task Force, the Disabilities Access and Voting Systems Task Force, and the Election Officer Training Task Force.
On April 15, 2003, a voting machine vendor fair was held at the NH Legislative Office Building. The following companies participated: AccuPoll, Avante International Technology, Diebold/LHS, Election Systems & Software, Encrypted Voting Machine Systems, Sequoia, and TruVote International. Each manufacturer was interviewed and every machine evaluated by task force members.
The draft NH State Plan for HAVA was released in May 2003 followed by two public comment hearings held last August. An updated plan was released and submitted to the federal government in February 2004.
On June 13, 2003, 400 election officials attended an election laws training. Bud Fitch, Assistant Attorney General, spoke about changes in election laws and Cheryl Killam, Governor's Commission on Disability, gave a presentation on disability awareness and voter accessibility requirements. Additionally, the Disabilities Access & Voting Systems Task Force and the Election Officer Training Task Force is producing a disability awareness training video for election officials.
Election Day, November 2003, many polling places were evaluated by Bud Fitch, Cheryl Killam, and Thomas Manning, Assistant Secretary of State. This process was video-taped leading to the creation of two videos: "How to Vote in NH" and "Polling Place Accessibility." Primary Day, January 2004, NH Sheriffs evaluated 287 polling places; staff and consumers from Granite State Independent Living and the Disabilities Rights Center evaluated 120; 10 were evaluated by Cheryl Killam and Thomas Manning. Municipalities will receive letters containing information about polling place deficiencies, deadlines for correcting problems, and a grant funding process.
For more information about NH's activities go to: Help America Vote Act of 2002 
(www.sos.nh.gov/HAVA).
Voting Place Accessibility in Massachusetts
In 1990 and 1995, the Massachusetts Office on Disability (MOD) collaborated with the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth (SOC) to ensure that all polling places were architecturally accessible. Teams conducted trainings to advocates and local elections officials on how to survey a polling place in accordance with the Massachusetts regulations 950 CMR 51.00 "Polling Place Accessibility for Elderly and Handicapped Voters." Surveys were conducted by advocates and local elections officials; survey tools were completed, signed, and returned to the SOC. At that time, municipalities reported that all their polling places were accessible.
Even with state regulations in place and the support of the Secretary of State's Office, MOD continued to receive complaints about the lack of access at polling places throughout the Commonwealth. The first step was to try to determine why there were still so many complaints regarding the lack of architectural access even though many polling places had been surveyed more than once. It was concluded that along with limited funding for municipalities to make the changes, there was inconsistent reporting since prior surveys were conducted by volunteers.
In order to ensure consistent survey results, MOD's access specialists, Jeffrey Dougan, Bruce Bruneau, and Ralph Hickey, began in February to meet with local elections officials and had those officials join them while their polling locations were surveyed. Massachusetts has 351 municipalities and almost 1500 polling places. Surveys will soon be completed and results will be available by August. Municipalities will receive reports listing the specifics of what was found at each location. All local elections officials have been informed by the SOC that their polling places must be brought into compliance or that the polling place must be moved to an accessible location in time for the November election.
Court Overturns Maine Voting Ban
In a precedent-setting order in August 2001, a federal court struck down Maine's prohibition on voting by anyone under guardianship by reason of mental illness. The court found that the prohibition violates both the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution and Title II of the ADA. The court also held that failing to give people notice before a guardianship hearing that they might lose their right to vote violated their Due Process rights. The case, Doe v. Rowe, was brought by the Maine Disability Rights Center on behalf of three women with mental disabilities who claimed they had been unfairly denied the franchise.
While the state has a compelling interest in limiting the right to vote to people who understand the nature and effect of voting, Judge George Singal found a blanket restriction not narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. The state cannot use mental illness as a proxy for mental incapacity with regard to voting. Individuals under guardianship may lack capacity to make some decisions, but have capacity to understand what it means to vote. More than 40 states have statutory or constitutional provisions that disenfranchise people with mental disabilities regardless of their capacity to vote.
[Source: "Federal Court Overturns Maine Voting Ban (www.bazelon.org/issues/voting/news.htm)," Bazelon Center.]
Every Vote Counts in Connecticut
The ADA Coalition of Connecticut recently entered into partnership with the State Office of Protection and Advocacy (OPA) to survey 350 polling places across the state. This project is part of OPA's voter access initiative, Every Vote Counts, conducted in collaboration with the Connecticut Secretary of State's Office and the Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities at the University of Connecticut.
In 2000, OPA developed voter access materials with the Secretary of State's Office and took on the challenge of evaluating Connecticut's approximately 700 polling places, completing half by the end of 2003. A comprehensive binder on voter access, including the survey form, training packet, OPA publications and publicity material, was produced. OPA also produced voting related giveaways, from rulers to pens to clipboards, emblazoned with the Every Vote Counts logo.
In 2004, OPA plans a series of voting machine focus groups, during which people with disabilities will have an opportunity to try out and evaluate machines of different kinds. An additional project for this year will involve developing protocols that ensure ballot access for people living in psychiatric care facilities.
Rhode Island: First to Make All Voting Places Accessible
How Rhode Island did it:
- The process emphasized collaboration between election administrators and the disability community.
- A team of state and local election officials and representatives from the disability community jointly designed the entire project and all materials including the inspection checklist.
- Over 18 months, a team inspected every polling place. The inspection team consisted of one employee of the city or town election office and an access specialist from the disability community.
- When an inaccessible polling place was identified, the inspection team jointly decided on the solution. If the polling place needed to be moved, the team identified the new site and negotiated with the owner for its use.
- The average cost to make all the polling places accessible was less than $400.
For additional information contact:
Bob Cooper
Executive Secretary
RI Governor's Commission on Disabilities
Phone: (401) 462-0100 (v), (401) 462-0101 (tty)
E-mail: bcooper@gcd.state.ri.us
[Source: "Rhode Island: First State to Make All of Its Voting Places Mobility Accessible" (www.aapd-dc.org/dvpmain/pollaccess/RIvotingmobility.html), AAPD.]
