Accessible Voting Initiatives in Maryland Thank you for including me in today’s forum Proud of our work in Maryland to improve access by voters with disabilities to the election process Happy to highlight a few initiatives Handout: Accessible Voting Initiatives in Maryland 5 relevant things to know about Maryland National Federation of the Blind is located in Baltimore, Maryland – long-term partnership University of Baltimore has a usability lab and a professor who is very interested in elections Statewide voting system No excuse absentee voting Any absentee voter can ask to receive ballot electronically Nikki Baines Charlson Deputy Administrator Maryland State Board of Elections

Universal Access - Election Systems Online voter registration Online request, receipt & marking of absentee ballot Accessible voting system We’ve made as much of our voting process accessible as we can Voter Registration Online voter registration has lots of advantages – including making this process accessible for most voters with disabilities Use to register to vote and update a registration (change party, address, name) Absentee Voting Online system to request an absentee ballot Online system to receive an absentee ballot Online system to mark an absentee ballot Subject of 2014 litigation Voting Use ES&S’ ExpressVote ballot marking device to mark paper ballots Previously used DRE voting system for 14 years Universal access as all voters voted the same way Advocates for voters with disabilities state that because voters now have different ways of marking of the ballot, we’ve moved away from universal access

Any voter can vote by absentee ballot & any absentee voter can request to receive his or her ballot electronically Absentee ballots must be returned by mail or in person No online submission of voted ballots Online ballot delivery system was designed to be accessible for all voters, including voters with disabilities Compatible with most common accessibility tools and software Tested with voters at the University of Baltimore Voters using this system can: Print a blank ballot and mark it by hand OR Use online ballot marking tool to make selections and then print the marked ballot

Example of using ballot marking device Example of summary page

Universal Access – Election Processes Simple, easy to understand forms Etiquette for pollworkers Audit voting locations for access Accommodations for pollworkers with disabilities Partnership with the University of Baltimore Kathryn Summers, Professor, head of UB’s usability lab, Anywhere Ballot team member Led testing of voting system and online ballot delivery system Provides feedback on forms and pollworker manual Include in pollworker training how to communicate with voters, including voters with disabilities Visit voting locations to make sure that accessible entrance is marked and open, accessible parking spaces are marked Hire voters with disabilities as election judges Hire American Sign Language Interpreters to translate for deaf pollworkers

Universal Access – Voting Facilities Early voting centers Election Day polling places Each potential voting location is surveyed with accessibility in mind Survey is based on Department of Justice survey All 77 early voting centers are accessible 99% of election day locations are accessible Baltimore City government undertook an effort to improve the accessibility of its election day voting locations Use older buildings and schools as voting locations Worked with variety of City government agencies and advocates for voters with disabilities Result of this effort was that every voting location in Baltimore City is accessible