Generations Submission by Board Chair Bill Ryan

9/1/2008 1:29:38 PM

Many election reforms have been in the works nationwide as a result of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 or HAVA.  The law centralized all electoral functions.

As of November 15, 2005, the responsibility to run all elections shifted from municipalities to the county boards of election. HAVA also recognized that many citizens did not have access to the democratic process and called for a new generation of voting equipment that could accommodate all eligible voters, including those with disabilities.

A great deal of progress has been made in bringing these reforms online. I thought you’d be interested in getting a preview of what to expect at least as far as voting equipment is concerned for the upcoming November election. It was up to New York State to determine what voting machine/s on the market today should replace the lever machines which have been commonly used in New York State since the 1890’s.  Reliability, security and accessibility features varied.  After a great deal of analysis and testing, the state indicated which voting machines the county election boards could go forward with purchasing. Like many counties in the state, Westchester has chosen the Sequoia ImageCast Precinct Optical Scan System.  The unit scans paper ballots marked by a voter, interprets those  marks and then communicates its interpretations back to the voter.  The voter reviews the ballot for accuracy and, once the voter approves it, the vote is both tabulated electronically and the back-up paper ballot goes into a secure ballot box and can be retrieved in case there are any irregularities with the machine that warrants a recount.

What To Expect
When you walk into your usual polling place on Election Day this November, it won’t look very different than the last time you voted.  The lever machines will continue their long history of service at least one more time. But, the good news is, each polling station will have at least one Sequoia unit operational in order to accommodate voters with disabilities.

The Sequoia Image Cast is a ballot marking device that will allow voters with various disabilities to vote independently and privately, many for the first time. For individuals with no sight, a severe visual impairment, who cannot read or for whom English is a second language, there is an audio component which reads the ballot. If voters have limited use of their hands, they can use two paddles which are easier to push.  If voters have no use of their hands, they can use a sip and puff device. For voters with less severe vision impairment, the font size can be enlarged. For voters in wheel chairs, the screen height can be adjusted.

Lisa Tarricone, Director of Systems Advocacy at the Westchester Independent Living Center, a not-for-profit, community-based advocacy and resource center that serves people with all types of disabilities said she tested the machine herself and found it easy to use. She said survey results have indicated that the new Sequoia unit was being received favorably.

"With the implementation of the Sequoia Image Cast ballot marking machine in every polling place throughout the county, voters with disabilities and seniors will have the opportunity to vote privately and independently, many for the first time, in the upcoming 2008 elections,” she said.
Ms. Tarricone added a very important point that anyone who may hesitate using the new technology should remember.  She said that “poll workers will be trained to provide guidance and support with the new machines.” If you’re interested in learning more about how the Sequoia voting machine works, the State Board of Election office indicated that a demonstration video would be available on its Web site at http://www.elections.state.ny.us.  If you’d like to know more about Sequoia’s accessibility features for the disabled, you can reach Lisa Tarricone at (914) 682-3926, Westchester Independent Living’s office in White Plains.

The familiar lever machine, invented by Jacob Myers, an upstate New Yorker in the 1890’s, will eventually be phased out completely. The company he founded, the United States Voting Machine Company of Jamestown, NY, is the predecessor to Sequoia Voting Systems. Eventually, all of the county’s 640,000 registered voters will be using the Sequoia voting machine.