Sacramento/Davis area -- help needed to test accessibility

[Wilms]

Crossposted from the Election Reform Forum

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x439704#439725



----- SACRAMENTO ------- JULY 19 & 20 ---------

If you know people in the Sacramento or Davis area of California, you can help!

The Secretary of State's office in CA is preparing to test one of a very few accessibility devices for voting that is NOT a DRE.

The inventor, Ellen Theisen, has long been active in working for election integrity (she previously founded Voters Unite). The company is Vote-PAD. The device is based on paper, has been developed in conjunction with feedback from people with disabilities (unlike some of the DREs), and would allow full verification and recountability (unlike any paperless DRE).

It would be a giant step forward for California to certify this for use in the state -- and five counties have already indicated a desire to use it.

I encourage anyone to help inform people with disabilities of this official State testing opportunity, in Sacramento. A big turnout of people with diverse physical challenges would be a giant step toward getting truly accessible elections, with a truly verifiable tally.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote-PAD, Inc. Invites People with Disabilities to the California Certification Testing on July 19, 20

http://www.vote-pad.us/Media/CA-Cert.htm

July 10, 2006

On July 19 and 20, the California Secretary of State’s office will examine the Vote-PAD, a non-computerized voting device, in an effort to provide counties with an innovative alternative to the controversial electronic voting systems currently certified for use in California. The device has been approved for use in Wisconsin in conjunction with hand counted paper ballots.

Vote-PAD, Inc. is a small company, formed in response to complaints from people with disabilities about the overstated accessibility of e-voting systems. The company's mission was to develop an assistive device that would remove barriers to exercising the right to vote and allow people with a wide range of disabilities to mark a paper ballot independently and privately.

From its inception, the Vote-PAD device was shaped through testing and input by people in the disabilities community. The company's website, www.vote-pad.us, includes testimonials from many who praise its accessibility. (http://www.vote-pad.us/testimonials.asp )

The Vote-PAD will be tested in conjunction with the Hart InterCivic Ballot Now system used in Yolo County, California and the Diebold AccuVote Optical Scanner used in Trinity County.

The California test plan is designed to show whether or not the Vote-PAD is accessible to people with disabilities while accurately representing the intent of the voter.

"We believe this thorough testing should become a standard for testing the accessibility of all voting systems designed for people with disabilities," Ellen Theisen, President of Vote-PAD, Inc., said.

The Counties, the State of California, and Vote-PAD, Inc. join in inviting you to be an official tester on July 19 or 20 in Sacramento if you have a disability that has made it difficult or impossible for you to vote in the past using standard voting equipment.

To schedule a time to test, call the California Elections Division at 916-657-2166 and/or email [e-mail] . Allow about an hour to learn about the equipment and perform the scripted testing.

"A true test requires a lot of people with a wide range of disabilities," Theisen said. "Our goal is to have 200 testers over the two-day period."

The testing will be performed at the multipurpose room in the California Secretary of State's office building at 1500 11th Street in Sacramento.

Vote-PAD, Inc.'s invitation to testers is here: <http://www.vote-pad.us/Media/Tester-Invitation.asp >.

Their request for assistance in notifying potential testers is here: <http://www.vote-pad.us/Media/CA-Invitation.asp >.

[emlev]

1. From a disabled election integrity activist--please support this!

Finally, a company that wants to provide accessible voting *and* verifiable election results!

I'm so sick of our community being used by the e-voting machine companies and their GOP bosses to push their technology that guarantees that we'll never know who wins another election! They don't give a damn about people with disabilities. We're an excuse to keep guilty white liberals from taking action to stop the hackable machines.


Well, the strategy didn't work, at least not totally, and a lot of us are out there doing our best to get rid of e-voting and all the other tricks the GOP has up its sleeve to steal elections.

This new company, VotePad, that's asking for our help, is founded by Ellen Theissen of VotersUnite!, one of the leading organizations working for election integrity.

I encourage you to contact all the people with disabilities you know in the Sacramento area and have them go check out the system. People with all sorts of disabilities are needed to try it, as I understand.

Thank you!