State Tests New Accessible Voting Machines

A committee of local and state election officials and people with disabilities has reviewed a variety of voting machines.

The purpose was to purchase a system that was accessible to as many people as possible.

Unable to find the 'perfect' machine- they settled on the Inspire system made by the Louisville, Kentucky firm IVS.

Sfx: Bedford gymnasium

The Secretary of State's Office decided to put Inspire to the test during Bedford's town meeting here at the McKelvie School.

A delegation of New York and Oregon officials had come specifically to see the new technology in action.

But Assistant Secretary of State Tom Manning had some bad news.

T.24
1:04 when people dial in to hear the audio ballot, we can't get the volume adjusted high enough so that it's clear to them. So it's making it a little difficult to navigate the ballot. But we've got people in KY and in Concord working on this. So we hope to get a resolution soon.

Despite the troubles, Inspire or the Accessible Voting System, as the Secretary of State's Office calls it, is fairly straight forward.

In fact, to call it a voting machine is a stretch.

If a voter chooses to use Inspire, she would pull back the curtain and find only a phone and fax machine.

Here's how it works.

An election official calls the computer system, located in Concord, enters an access code and passes the phone to the voter.

The voter then listens to the ballot and much like any phone system, hears prompts and makes selections.

3:18 sfx: fax coming out (very good)

Finished voting, the fax spits out the marked ballot.

Bedford poll worker Nancy Larsen and her husband tired it but didn't like it.

T.28
:438...the sound system is not a human sound, it's actually computer generated. So we had some difficulty understanding it, b/c it's very monotone.

She says she also found the synthesized voice slow, making it tedious to listen to the entire ballot.

Larsen shared her opinion with the Secretary of State's Office who, she says, promised to continue tweaking the system over the coming months.

But the Secretary of State can't do anything about the system's inability to accommodate every disability.

Clyde Terry, CEO of Granite State Independent Living sat on the stat committee that evaluated the voting machines.

T.9
3:12 it is using a telephone and for some people with dexterity impairments, motor impairments, they may not be able to use the phone, even if we go to large button phones...there will be some limitations.

T.26
13:27 we have to be realistic there are people who have certain disabilities that are going to have to have assistance to vote...

Cheryl Killam of the Governor's Commission on Disability.

She also was on the committee.

...If it's something as simple as putting the paper in the machine, that's great. But it might be more. People who are deaf and blind are not able to vote in any of the systems we use, b/c we need brail.

Sfx: Bedford gymnasium

After about nearly two hours, a trip to a local Radio Shack and some fiddling- Assistant Secretary of State Tom Manning still had a barely audible voting machine on his hands.
And he was pleased.

T.30
6:17 actually this has been a great test for us b/c the sound quality is so lousy that what we know we need to focus on right now.

Oregon Deputy Secretary of State Paddy McGuire, who had made the trip out just to see Inspire in action says he's still convinced it’s a good product.

T.32
:03...the simplicity of it, is really great. You have a telephone and you have a fax machine and that is all you need on this end is really a great solution. And if the phone breaks you can send someone to Radio Shack and that is the best solution...hopefully the technical issues are a minor bump in the road, and that's why you practice things.

As McGuire and the other out of state election officials were getting ready to leave, it seemed like the problem with Inspire was solved.

T.41
:38 oh, that's much better. Yeah. So it was that switch. Well it was that plus he boosted the levels back in Concord...Yeah, it's much better.

State and local election officials hope all the problems have been fixed.

If not, the glitches in Bedford could mean troubles on a state-wide scale this September, when New Hampshire holds its primary.

For NHPR News, I'm DG.