Presidential Election Voter Forum for the disabled community

the general election. and this is a significant year for maryland — in that all voters with vision and hearing disabilities — now have the means to have their voices heard. 47 abc’s justina coronel tells us about an advocacy group in salisbury — spreading the word. track 1 with the presidential campaign near us, the disability rights maryland hosted a presidential election voter forum. it’s a great opportunity for voters with disabilities to ask questions and receive answers directly from the campaigns on issues of general interest to the disability community. track 2 the advocacy group invited representatives from the local g-o-p and democratic parties to participate. the executive director of disability rights maryland, virginia knowlton marcus, explains those with disabilities can ask them questions about the trump and clinton campaigns– to see how they will focus on housing, education, employment, and transportation — in ways that directly affect them. the disability community represents a very large voting block often ignored traditionally but that is beginning to change. track 3 besides the issues forum, people can register to vote and can get information about their voting rights. the local board of elections also brought the voting machine equipment for those with disabilities to teach them how to properly use it. it’s easy for them to use and it accommodates a number of disabilities so there was a lot of thought put into designing it so that it would address a lot of needs for voters with disabilities. track 4 this touch screen machine lets voters go through each question thoroughly — and have a chance to review their ballot before it is cast, through either headphones or raised brail. this machine then prints out the ballot — which poll workers can then input into the regular voting machine. for the first time, the entire state of maryland will have access to these machines for a general election. we are overcoming a long history of segregation, marginalization, disenfranchisement, so it’s a process but i think that more and more, people with disabilities are understanding the important of voting and that the vote is our voice. track 5 justina coronel, 47 abc. these specialized voting machines were written into law in 2007. but until now — we were told maryland did not have enough money to have these machines available throughout the state. we’re told under federal law — now all of the early voting centers — and polling places on election day — will have at least one machine for voters with disabilities. in dover this