Voters Needing Assistance
Voters With Disabilities
Sight & Hand
As required by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), each polling place has an IVS Handicap Voting System available for the blind and visually impaired, and for voters with difficulty filling in the ovals on a ballot. The voter may use the IVS system to access an audio ballot, read to him under computer control. There is a keypad with the voter may use to select the candidates of his choice. Alternatively, the system has a computer tablet with allows touch-screen voting. In each case, when the voter has finished making his selections, the system's printer will fill in the selections on the voter's ballot. This ballot may then be voted in the usual way, using the tabulator. Starting in 2022 the IVS system also includes the equipment for voting with a single button and access via a voter's sip 'n' puff device.
Election officials are available to manually assist the visually impaired voter in filling out his ballot, if he prefers this method to using the IVS machine. However, manual assistance sacrifices the secrecy of the voter’s ballot, so election officials should not recommend or encourage a voter to obtain it.
Mobility
Polling places are handicap accessible. However, sometimes the path is long. Also, the weather in early November is sometimes quite foul. Both these things can make voting difficult. Voters with mobility issues should consider using the absentee ballot application process.
Election officials are trained to assist voters with mobility issues by offering them a chair in case of fatigue, and by moving them to the front of a line if they have difficulty standing in line.
Language
Most polling locations will have election officials who are bilingual in Spanish and English for the assistance of voters and all will have extensive Spanish language signage. Other translation assistance is also available.
Temporary or last minute illness or mobility issues
Curbside voting is available for voters who cannot get inside the polling place. Two Assistant Registrars, from opposing parties, will bring the voter a ballot, assist the voter as necessary, and take the completed ballot to the tabulator to vote it for him. The secrecy of the voter’s ballot will be preserved as long as he is able to fill it out by himself. The voter will need to have someone enter the polling place and request curbside assistance for him, as the election officials are not able to monitor the parking area outside the polling place.