In 2020, 17.7 million people with disabilities reported casting a ballot in the general election, according to the United States Election Assistance Commission. Still, many voters with disabilities face barriers with casting their ballot. This week on the Disabilities Beat, we share a conversation between WBFO's Emyle Watkins and Chris Minkler, the president of the Buffalo Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind about voting access for people who are blind or have vision disabilities. They discuss the rights voters with vision disabilities have at the polls and what barriers they face with the ballot.
TRANSCRIPT:
This is a rush transcript provided by a contractor and may be updated over time to be more accurate.
Emyle Watkins: Hi, I am Emyle Watkins, and this is the WBFO Disabilities Beat.
In 2020, 17.7 million people with disabilities reported casting a ballot in the general election. According to the United States Election Assistance Commission, still, many voters with disabilities face barriers with casting their ballot. Today, I share part of a recent conversation I had with Chris Minkler, president of the Buffalo Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. We discuss the rights voters with vision disabilities have at the polls and what barriers they face with the ballot.
Chris Minkler: I grew up in East Aurora. I graduated from high school in 1987. I was in the Navy for two years. I lost my sight at age 20 from Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, which is a deterioration of the optic nerves. I was seen at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, and I found out about the National Federation of the Blind, which is based in Baltimore, Maryland, where my brother Peter, who lives in Maryland, and I met Kenneth Jernigan, who was a former president of the NFB at that time. We had a conversation and I started to receive The Braille Monitor, which is their publication, on cassette tape, and later, became very active in the NFB.
Emyle Watkins: Chris, I'm wondering for you personally, how do you vote and have there been any barriers you've encountered with voting?
Chris Minkler: I personally vote. I have a friend that goes with me and helps me to fill out the ballot, so a blind person can do this. They can also request using the AutoMARK machine, which is the machine used in Erie County. I checked with the Board of Elections, and they use the AutoMARK machine. This is a machine that has headphones and you can listen to the choices, but also has a screen for someone who has enough vision to see the screen, and you can go through and make your selections for voting. If someone cannot or does not want to use the AutoMARK machine and goes to the polling place alone, Democrat and Republican, go to a private area, and both of them would assist the person with voting for absentee voting. That can be done electronically, but for applying for the ballot, for actually filling out the ballot, it can be done partially electronically, but it has to be printed and signed and mailed in. That part requires an assistant.
Emyle Watkins: So, for most people, they're going to be relying on assistants if they get an absentee ballot. What are some of the issues with getting an absentee ballot and needing assistance and needing to be able to sign it and send it back?
Chris Minkler: It requires that it's printed, and many people don't have a printer, so this is a problem. For a person that does have a printer, it requires a sighted person helping them to sign it and mail it.
Emyle Watkins: Tell me a little bit more about what NFB is working on as far as tackling this issue.
Chris Minkler: In the spring of this year, in March, we had a group that went to Albany and were advocating for a bill, S2892, to try to improve accessible voting, it would address the issue I talked about, sponsored by Senator Myrie. There was no bill in the assembly that was exactly the same, but there have been other bills trying to address accessible voting. This would apply also for people in the military that are stationed abroad, because they have to send in their ballot and with the postal system, that can take a while.
Emyle Watkins: Walk me through how this would change the system and what it would look like.
Chris Minkler: According to NYSenate.gov, it said New York State is one of only 19 states that does not provide for fully electronic voting. If this passed, it would eliminate the need to have to print the ballot and then mail it in. The whole process could be done electronically.
Emyle Watkins: Now, there's probably some people out there who would say, "How do we deal with voter fraud in that situation?" What's your response to those critics?
Chris Minkler: We have the technology to do this now. It's people, like I said, living overseas that are serving in the military, have to mail in their ballots and blind people and other people with disabilities have to do this. This is done in most states. Majority of states do electronic voting, so I don't think they've had widespread problems.
Emyle Watkins: Where does that stand right now, and how hopeful are you feeling about it?
Chris Minkler: It hasn't passed this year, but hopefully it'll be reintroduced next year, and we're going to do some more advocacy work.
Emyle Watkins: Thank you so much for joining me, Chris.
Chris Minkler: Thank you, Emyle.
Emyle Watkins: You can listen to the Disabilities Beat segment on demand. View a transcript in plain language description for every episode on our website at WBFO.org. I'm Emyle Watkins. Thanks for listening.
