Md. continues making voting accessible to all eligible voters

With early voting just a few days away, the state of Maryland is looking to continue to make voting accessible to all eligible voters,  which includes those living with disabilities.

When it comes to voting on election day,  it’s easy to assume most people just walk-in, fill-in, and cast their ballot.

However for people who have a disability, something as simple as voting can be a challenge. Danielle Earl, is a legally blind rehab specialist at Blind Industries Services tells 47 ABC voting has become easier due to new equipment  in Maryland.

“It allows me to vote independent. it’s easier to put in the ballots into the machine properly, and I don’t think you need much help,” says Earl.

The machine is called the “ballot marking device”. Maryland introduced it during this year’s presidential primaries, and most recently, local board of elections have been doing demonstrations on how it works to area residents.

On Tuesday, Gwendolyn Dales,  the elections director for Dorchester County took 47 ABC through the new system. She says the system is wheel chair accessible and has a touch screen that allows voter to enlarge text. For voters who are blind,  there is a remote keypad with braille buttons that is used with an audio headset.

“They are able to use the braille and use it as a contraption and as a way to vote,” says Dales.
 
For voters who have limited mobility in their arms or legs. Dales tells us they can use something called the ‘sip and puff device’,  which essentially uses a voter’s ability to breathe to cast their vote.

Dorchester County election officials tells us they haven’t run into any problems using the new system. However a spokesperson for the National Federation of the Blind tells 47 ABC there have been complaints from candidates that this system only allows a certain number of candidates to be viewed on the screen at a time. 47 ABC reached out to the Maryland State Board of Elections to find out if this was an issue they were working on, but have yet to hear back from them as of Tuesday afternoon.

Dorchester County also tells 47 ABC  the state does not offer transportation for voters who do not have access during early voting or election day, they do tell us that they mail out absentee ballots or voters can fill ballots online.

For more information on voting accessibility click here.