Polling Places/Ballots

Both the federal Americans With Disabilities Act and the Help America Vote Act require that voting locations be physically accessible to voters with disabilities. In addition, HAVA requires that every polling location have available at least one voting device that enables voters with disabilities to vote a secret ballot without the need for someone to help them cast their vote. State law also requires that the Secretary of State appoint a staff person specifically to assure accessibility to voting.

 

Neither requirement has been fully implemented in Ohio. Poll workers have not been provided with the training and resources to be able to advise voters of their options.

 

With the federal government providing a big chunk of the money, all counties in Ohio have adopted either optical scan or electronic voting equipment. While voters generally like either type of voting, each has advantages and disadvantages.

 

Optical scan (OS) ballots look like the machine-graded tests we took in school, where you filled in a little circle to indicate your answer. OS ballots present the whole ballot at one time and the voter simply fills in the circle or completes an arrow beside the candidates and issues that are chosen. The ballot is then put through a scanner that returns the ballot if the voter marked more than the allowable number of choices for any office. The scanner also records the votes from each ballot so there is a total vote available for that precinct at the end of Election Day.

 

If there is need for a recount or to resolve questions, a paper ballot is available for hand counting. However, because of ballot retention requirements, there are many ballots that must be stored for up to two years, which can create serious storage problems in large jurisdictions.

 

Electronic touch-screen voting devices (commonly called direct recording electronic – DRE) are similar to bank ATM machines. The voter touches the candidate’s name to vote. In Ohio, there must be a voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) that the voter can check to be sure the machine is recording the vote properly. At the end of the day, the DRE produces a final count that can be posted at the precinct. By using special adaptations, the DRE can enable voters with impaired vision or mobility or muscle-control problems to vote independently. Voters and poll workers find them easy to use – when they are working properly.

 

However, serious questions have been raised about their security, and many poll workers do not have the technical expertise and training to deal with malfunctions that have occurred.

 

Inadequate training and support for poll workers who have to administer an increasingly complex set of federal, state, and local election rules has been an ongoing problem in many polling places. But one recent change in Ohio law may help alleviate the lack of poll worker technical expertise. It is now legal for 17-year-olds to be poll workers The counties that have enlisted these young people have found that one of the many advantages they provide is their experience and comfort working with electronic equipment.