[A] new state of the art, multi-sensory voting system will be in all 275 polling locations across the state for voters who are disabled on Election Day, Secretary of State Jim Condos announced Tuesday.
A Dell touch-screen with two speakers and a small square keypad comprise the voting system, which is connected to a printer that prints out a standard ballot with the voter’s selections.
The Secretary of State’s Office worked with a third party electric ballot developer, Democracy Live, in the $1.3 million undertaking — with funding from the federal 2018 Help America Vote Act.
Election officials ran training programs for election workers and beta versions of the system throughout the summer, they said, and had the system at polling locations in the August primary as a preliminary test.
Kumeye Castillo, accompanied by Ruffles, her assistance dog, demonstrated how to use the system at the announcement in Montpelier.
Seated in front of the device, Castillo scrolled through all the choices on a mock ballot. Using her fingers, she magnified the candidates’ names so she was able to read them, and each time she passed a name, an automated voice said the name of the candidate.
After Castillo finished filling out the ballot, she pressed the “print” button and the printer filled in the ballot with the candidates she had selected.
“Since the first time I voted in 2016, I have never been able to do so without assistance,” Castillo said. “I am very excited for the opportunity to be able to vote independently.”
There will be 310 of these voting devices throughout the state’s polling locations on Nov. 6, and at each location clerks and election workers who have been trained on the new system will be present.
This system replaces a phone-based accessible voting system that had been used in Vermont since 2002, where voters had to listen to all the possible candidates and then dial corresponding numbers.
Sarah Launderville, executive director of Vermont Center for Independent Living, said the new system is a much needed update for voters who are disabled.
“It was like talking to or going through customer service at some big credit card company but it was actually even a longer list because it was a bunch of candidates that you’d have to sort of go through at that pace,” Launderville said of the old system. “This is much more user friendly. It’s pushing a button for your candidate.”
Condos said the new system will give people who are disabled access to the ballot while allowing them to keep their vote private — something that has been an issue in previous years.
“The challenge that we have observed was that a comparatively low number of voters with disabilities utilized the accessible system that we had previously available, mainly because of the setup of those devices. Assistance was often required, compromising that voter’s ability to vote privately and independently,” Condos said.
Condos said the tablet device creates “equal access” to the ballot.
Launderville said she was excited that more people will now have the option of voting at the polls, but said there is always more to be done to make it easier for people with disabilities to vote.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” she said. “Transportation to the polls is still a barrier for some and a lot of the ‘get out the vote’ campaigns that are out there still leave individuals with disabilities behind when they’re doing travel and transportation and rides to the polls.”
Will Senning, director of elections at the Secretary of State’s Office, said he is confident that between the technology of the new system and training programs, people using the new system should not come across any issues.
“Right now we’re feeling pretty good,” Senning said. “I don’t foresee any significant issues.”
Condos also discussed election security, saying that while it is never good to assume there is no chance of a breach in security, he is confident that this election will be secure.
On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney for Vermont Christina E. Nolan announced she had assigned Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Drescher to oversee Vermont as part of the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program.
Drescher will handle complaints of election fraud and voting rights abuses in consultation with Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office, and the Vermont Department of Public Safety.
Condos said he doesn’t expect issues with voter fraud and Nolan’s announcement simply outlines a communication hierarchy for Vermont to follow if complaints do come in.
“There’s a concerted effort between Public Safety, Vermont State Police, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office so that we have a communication protocol in place,” Condos said. “If you see something, say something, and we will make the determination of where that needs to go, whether it’s to the Vermont State Police, the FBI, or Department of Homeland Security.”