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Volusia's lack of touch screens unfair to blind voters, suit says
Associated Press
Published July 6, 2005
ORLANDO - Blind voters sued Volusia County's elections supervisor Tuesday, claiming the optical scan system the county uses denies them equal access because it forces them to get help to cast a vote.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Orlando, seeks to make Volusia add touch screen voting machines so the blind can cast secret ballots.
Last month the Volusia County Council, some of its members uncomfortable with the lack of a paper printout of ballots cast on touch screens, narrowly rejected a $782,185 contract with Diebold Election Systems to buy some of the machines.
The lawsuit claims the county's exclusive use of the optical scan system violates state law and the Americans with Disabilities Act. It asks the court to require the elections supervisor to have the touch screen machines in place for October municipal elections.
Optical scan voting machines tally paper ballots that voters mark with special pens; Volusia is one of 52 Florida counties that use them. The other 15 counties use touch screens.
Touch screen systems usually come equipped with audio technology that provides blind voters a headset to let them navigate the choices without help.
"The fact of the matter is accessibility is required by law," said James Gashel, a spokesman for the National Federation of the Blind. "Paper trail isn't required by law."
Volusia County, home to Daytona Beach, is Florida's 11th-largest county with a U.S. Census Bureau-estimated population in July 2004 of 478,670. It currently has about 317,000 registered voters. Ann McFall, the county's elections supervisor, said her attorney, Diego "Woody" Rodriguez, would file a motion today asking the judge for guidance on how to proceed. Rodriguez said McFall wants the lawsuit resolved quickly.
"While we respect the Volusia County Council's decision ... at the same time she's left with a system that we feel is not going to meet state standards," Rodriguez said. "She would like to comport with the ... wishes to have a paper trail, but that's not available."
[Last modified July 6, 2005, 00:48:04]
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