AAPD PLAINTIFF IN A LANDMARK LAWSUIT AGAINST THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA THAT HAS JUST BEEN SETTLED
August 15, 2002

WASHINGTON, DC-- "For the first time ever as a District of Columbia voter and a blind person, I will have the ability to vote secretly and truly independently," said Jim Dickson, AAPD's Vice President for Government Affairs and a District of Columbia resident, at a press conference today in Washington, DC. "With the new equipment that will be in DC polling places, I will actually be able to hear the ballot and simply follow the provided prompts in order to cast my vote- no longer will I need to take someone into the voting booth with me to cast my vote on my behalf."

AAPD and the Disability Rights Council of Greater Washington (DRC) announced at today's press conference, the settlement of a landmark lawsuit against the District of Columbia and its Board of Elections and Ethics. Under the settlement, the District becomes the first major metropolitan area in the country in which voters who are blind or cannot use their hands will be able to vote in secret and independently. The agreement settles a lawsuit filed last year by AAPD and the DRC, along with several blind voters who cannot see a printed ballot and a quadriplegic voter who cannot use his hands to mark a paper ballot.

At the basis of the suit, the District of Columbia was purchasing new voting equipment in 2002, but not taking people with disabilities into consideration as the system being purchased, which is called an optical scan system, requires a voter to mark a paper ballot with a pencil. The ballot is then scanned and the vote is tabulated electronically. As such, the opportunity to cast a secret ballot would not be afforded to voters who are blind or cannot use a pencil- they would need to still take another person into the voting booth to cast their votes.

In this lawsuit, the plaintiffs claimed among other things that the purchase of a new voting system that was not accessible to voters with disabilities violates the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. What is particularly egregious is that voting equipment is in fact readily available from equipment manufacturers that would make it possible for these plaintiffs and the thousands of other District voters with disabilities to vote in secret and independently.

In settling the case, the District of Columbia government and Board of Elections and Ethics agreed to provide at least one accessible voting machine in every polling place in the city by the May 2004 election. In this fall's elections, the new machines will be demonstrated by volunteers recruited by the DRC and the AAPD, but they will not be used to cast actual votes.

Added Dickson, "It is critical to point out that currently, one-third of eligible voters in this country are still casting their votes on optical scan equipment. There are 35 million voters with disabilities in this country, and all must be afforded equal voting rights, to include full accessibility to their polling places and the right to cast a secret ballot. The filing of this lawsuit against the District of Columbia and the settlement being announced today send a very strong signal to the hundreds of jurisdictions around the country that this cannot be allowed any longer." He went on to explain that this case demonstrates the crucial importance of the election reform legislation pending in Congress, particularly those parts requiring all jurisdictions to have accessible voting machines and providing financial assistance for the purchase of accessible machines.

The accessible voting machines are similar to accessible ATM machines, in having both audio and touch-screen capability. For a blind person, the machines produce an audio reading of the ballot to which a voter listens using headphones. The voter moves through the ballot using arrow keys and pushes the "select" button for his or her choice. Each button has a distinctive shape, such as an "up" arrow, and is identified in Braille. People who cannot use their hands to hold a pencil can use the touch screen feature of the machine. The voter sees the ballot on the screen and touches the screen with any part of the hand or a mouth stick, a wand held in the mouth and used to push buttons or keys on a keyboard. All voters can also use the machines to write in a candidate by spelling the candidate's name either on a keyboard on the touch-screen or by selecting letters recited orally. At the end, voters can confirm their choices before casting their final vote.

"We are hoping that this lawsuit will be a model that other jurisdictions around the country will emulate, "stated AAPD President and CEO Andy Imparato at the press conference. "When a city is building something new and/or purchasing new voting equipment, then it must incorporate and build access into its plans. AAPD is currently working on another similar lawsuit in Jacksonville, Florida- while none of us should have to be filing lawsuits to get the attention of the jurisdictions, AAPD will continue to do so when jurisdictions overlook and do not take seriously the need for full accessibility and the voting rights that must be given to every voter."

The plaintiffs in the case against the District of Columbia have been represented by the Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and the Washington law firm, Hogan & Hartson.

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