Oregon looks to iPads to help disabled people vote

[onehandle]

Source: AP

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon was first in the nation to have all residents vote by mail. Now it's pioneering another idea: vote by iPad. Voters in five counties are filling out and returning their mail-in ballots for a Tuesday special primary election to replace former U.S. Rep. David Wu, who resigned following a sex scandal. A handful will mark their ballots not with a pen but with the tip of their finger.

It's the latest attempt at using new technology to help voters with disabilities cast ballots privately. Armed with iPads and portable printers, county election workers are going to parks, nursing homes, community centers and anywhere else they might find groups of voters who have trouble filling out traditional paper ballots.

Using the iPad, disabled voters can call up the right ballot and tap the screen to pick a candidate, with or without the help of election workers. The voters then print the completed ballot and stuff it in an envelope to sign, take with them and drop in the mail or an official ballot box.

Voters with poor vision can adjust the font size and screen colors, or they can have the iPad read them the candidates' names and even the voter pamphlet. A voter with limited mobility could attach a "sip-and-puff" device to control the screen. Lewis Crews, 75, who has severe arthritis, didn't have to hold a pen to fill out his ballot. "It's a lot simpler for me. I think it's a great setup they got," Crews told The Associated Press last week in a phone interview after he filled out and printed one of the first-ever iPad ballots.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/oregon-looks-ipads-help-disabled-people-vote-200224851.html

[LonePirate]

1. It's refreshing to hear that a state is trying to make it easier for people to vote.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Easy, and fun...

This is cool...love my State.

[RoccoR5955]

3. Why do they have to always through tech at a problem?

Whatever it is, they throw tech at it, and expect it to be easier. Yeah, when it works. The problem is that these programs are made by flawed hewmannz, who often make errors, which are only amplified in the software that they create.

Paper and pen is low tech, and does the job, so what's wrong with it!

It's good that they are getting out to get to the voters, but they don't need iPads to do it.

[WheelWalker]

4. I imagine that's the argument that was used

by proponents of the stylus on clay over those adopting ink on papyrus or vellum.

[lbrtbell]

6. Technology isn't the answer for everything

It helps in many cases, but it's equally likely to cause more work, depending on the situation.

Why do you think so many younger people are embracing the Hipster PDA, which consists of index cards, a binder clip, and a pen? Because sometimes, the simplest things work best.

Personally, I can see this iPad business being used to steal votes from disabled people. Not cool.

[quakerboy]

5. Written by one clearly not in touch with the disabled community.

There are things that can be done with devices that allow greater independence and ability to some people who cannot use pen and paper.

This is why Wii devices are becoming common in nursing homes. People who physically can't go bowling or play tennis, at least get a portion of the enjoyment.

Same thing with Ipods. They are popular among people with certain types of brain injury, and are great therapeutic tools.

I see nothing wrong with a paper ballot that happens to be printed via use of an Ipad rather than an old fashioned pen. As the article says, if read before resorting to reflexive neo-luddism,

"Elections officials emphasize that, technically speaking, nobody is voting by IPad. Rather, they're using the device to mark a ballot that's dispensed from a portable printer and mailed to elections offices for counting, just a like a hand-marked ballot."

This is no black box with votes flipped unknown to any but the programmer. There is a paper ballot at the end of the process that the voter can check and verify. Allowing people who otherwise would not be able to vote, or who needed a great deal of help, to vote with relative ease.