Concerning Accessible Voting for the Blind

WHEREAS,           

The Help America Vote Act, which was passed in 2002 to be effective in 2006, states that all Americans must be able to vote independently and privately; and

WHEREAS,           

Many counties in Florida have invested heavily in electronic, touch-screen voting machines, which are designed to be accessible to blind voters; and

WHEREAS,           

Voters of the state of Florida have experienced elections, which have yielded questionable results; and

WHEREAS,           

Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist has announced that he intends to have all of Florida’s touch-screen voting machines replaced with machines which record votes on paper; and

WHEREAS,           

In these considerations, many decision makers are not giving adequate consideration to the requirements that the new voting equipment be made accessible for the blind:  Now, Therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED

by the National Federation of the Blind of Florida, this twenty-eighth day of May, 2007, in the City of Tampa, Florida, that we call upon the Governor and the State of Florida and the Florida Legislature, to not lose sight of the gains made by the blind of Florida, in securing our right to vote privately and independently, as they consider ways in which to make Florida’s voting process voter verifiable and auditable;  and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED

that we call upon the Governor and the Legislature to work closely with the National Federation of the Blind, and its affiliate, the National Federation of the Blind of Florida, as new standards are developed and adopted to insure that the blind will continue to be included in the process by which our free society elects its leaders and representatives.