Hand-written ballots – the most popular option among those pushing false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged – would be the “worst possible system” for voters with disabilities, an access advocate stressed to a committee that’s evaluating options for Louisiana election technology.
Tory Rocca, public policy and community engagement director for Disability Rights Louisiana, told the Louisiana Voting System Commission hand-written ballots would exclude individuals with visual disabilities and those who can’t use their hands.
Rocca wants Louisiana officials to use an electronic voting system with ballot-marking devices. A new law requires the state to switch to machines that create a paper trail that can be audited, moving away from the fully digital machines in place for the past two decades.
“Using ballot-marking devices across the board would be the most accessible thing for people with disabilities,” Rocca said.
The Louisiana Voting System Commission, which has been holding meetings since November, is a 13-member panel of state officials. Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin chairs the group.
State Sen. Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell, sponsored legislation to create the commission after angry supporters of former President Donald Trump descended on a legislative committee meeting and repeated Trump’s lie that the election was stolen.
A hybrid voting system model, where voters with disabilities are allowed to use ballot-marking devices and able-bodied...
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