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Poll site training at CO-ARC
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| Francesca Olsen/Hudson-Catskill Newspapers Poll site specialist Dale Snyder assists Lee Stone while he uses a ballot marking device Wednesday as part of Disability Awareness Day for the county's 22 new poll site specialists. The specialists will be stationed at every poll site in the county come election day to assist voters with BMD usage. |
By Francesca Olsen
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
Twenty-two new poll site specialists, hired by the county Board of Elections, got together for another installment of training for the big (Nov. 4 voting) day Tuesday. Disability Awareness Day, held at Columbia County COARC, brought specialists together with ballot marking devices (BMDs) and the people who will benefit most from learning how to use them.
The training day taught specialists about the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), a panel discussion on why voting independently and privately matters, role-playing sessions on how to be welcoming and supportive to voters with disabilities, and actual practice with BMDs.
Sue Cohen of Voting Access Solutions, who the county hired with funding provided from HAVA, was there to answer questions and show specialists how to use the voting equipment, along with HAVA specialists Rhonda Granger and Bill Van Alstyne.
Individuals with developmental disabilities were also shown how to use BMDs with help from poll site specialists. Columbia County is one of the only New York counties currently involved in a disabled voter outreach and training program, Cohen said.
“This isn’t happening all over the state,” she said, adding that HAVA funding is available for such activities everywhere.
“Of all the disabilities to use the BMD, people with developmental disabilities would have the hardest time.”
Cohen has worked with Sequoia/Dominion, the company that manufactures BMDs. “When I first started, I felt the machine was not user-friendly,” she said. BMD software has since been updated three times in the past two years.
The “voters” filled out what Cohen called an “ice cream ballot,” a sample ballot that asks what an individual’s favorite flavor of ice cream is, who their favorite actor is, and so on. It’s not a real ballot, just a program for exactly this type of training.
HAVA specialist Rhonda Granger, hired by the county BOE, was in attendance to help specialists work with and understand the machines. She was a machine tech, and has been trained by Sequoia/Dominion. The county will send 42 BMDs to poll sites for this year’s election.
“Our poll site specialists are in control of at least two sites each,” she said. They are there to set up and take down the machines, and assist voters as well as election workers on how to use BMDs, and to aid disabled and non-disabled voters who use them.
In the Sept. 15 primary, two votes were cast on BMDs, both in the town of Taghkanic.
“We’re very proactive in these outreach programs — hopefully, as we go forward, these people who haven’t voted in the past will have the ability to make that political decision, privately and independently,” said HAVA specialist Bill Van Alstyne.
“Privately and Independently” is the motto, Granger said, for the outreach campaign; often, disabled voters must rely on help from a family member when it comes to a lever machine, but a BMD incorporates audio and visual tools to accommodate disabilities.
“Columbia County is the only county that’s doing this,” Granger said.
“This is a worthy cause.” said Van Alstyne.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
The training day taught specialists about the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), a panel discussion on why voting independently and privately matters, role-playing sessions on how to be welcoming and supportive to voters with disabilities, and actual practice with BMDs.
Sue Cohen of Voting Access Solutions, who the county hired with funding provided from HAVA, was there to answer questions and show specialists how to use the voting equipment, along with HAVA specialists Rhonda Granger and Bill Van Alstyne.
Individuals with developmental disabilities were also shown how to use BMDs with help from poll site specialists. Columbia County is one of the only New York counties currently involved in a disabled voter outreach and training program, Cohen said.
“This isn’t happening all over the state,” she said, adding that HAVA funding is available for such activities everywhere.
“Of all the disabilities to use the BMD, people with developmental disabilities would have the hardest time.”
Cohen has worked with Sequoia/Dominion, the company that manufactures BMDs. “When I first started, I felt the machine was not user-friendly,” she said. BMD software has since been updated three times in the past two years.
The “voters” filled out what Cohen called an “ice cream ballot,” a sample ballot that asks what an individual’s favorite flavor of ice cream is, who their favorite actor is, and so on. It’s not a real ballot, just a program for exactly this type of training.
HAVA specialist Rhonda Granger, hired by the county BOE, was in attendance to help specialists work with and understand the machines. She was a machine tech, and has been trained by Sequoia/Dominion. The county will send 42 BMDs to poll sites for this year’s election.
“Our poll site specialists are in control of at least two sites each,” she said. They are there to set up and take down the machines, and assist voters as well as election workers on how to use BMDs, and to aid disabled and non-disabled voters who use them.
In the Sept. 15 primary, two votes were cast on BMDs, both in the town of Taghkanic.
“We’re very proactive in these outreach programs — hopefully, as we go forward, these people who haven’t voted in the past will have the ability to make that political decision, privately and independently,” said HAVA specialist Bill Van Alstyne.
“Privately and Independently” is the motto, Granger said, for the outreach campaign; often, disabled voters must rely on help from a family member when it comes to a lever machine, but a BMD incorporates audio and visual tools to accommodate disabilities.
“Columbia County is the only county that’s doing this,” Granger said.
“This is a worthy cause.” said Van Alstyne.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
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