The Price of Democracy

by Zena Naiditch

Equip for Equality's President and CEO Zena Naiditch In the March 2006 primary election, for the first time, voters who are blind or sight impaired were able to exercise their right to vote privately and independently. This was as a result of the federal Help America Vote Act, which required, and provided funds for, the purchase of accessible voting equipment by local voting authorities. While problems with the "accessible" equipment remained even after those purchases, this was a momentous development for people with disabilities. Nevertheless, critics complained that the equipment wasn't worth the cost, noting that it was used by only a few during the primary election. Among those loudly objecting was the Belleville News Democrat, located downstate in St. Clair County, Illinois. People with disabilities were understandably outraged and offended by the paper's position. Senior Counsel Karen Ward and I sent a Letter to the Editor of that paper in response to the editorial. In lieu of a new editorial for this issue of the Equalizer, I am reprinting our letter below:

Oscar Wilde defined a cynic as one who knows "the price of everything and the value of nothing." Your editorial of March 24 ("Too High a Price at the Polls") reveals a cynical view, as it places little or no value on the most fundamental right of a citizen in a democracy, the right to vote by secret ballot. It also unfairly demeans citizens with disabilities, by calling them just another "special-interest group."

The Help America Vote Act was enacted, among other important purposes, to assure to voters with disabilities the same right to private and independent voting that other citizens enjoy. Certainly, you would not suggest that taxpayer dollars should not be spent to assure the right to vote to citizens of color or other minorities.

Moreover, your assumption that no one needs this new equipment because no one used it in St. Clair County on Primary Election Day is in error. For years, people with disabilities, and blind voters in particular, have avoided the polls – choosing not to vote or to vote by absentee ballot – because voting equipment and polling places have been inaccessible to them and election officials have been unwelcoming, even hostile, as your editorial is, to their participation. With the new equipment – and efforts made to making polling places accessible to voters with disabilities and to create a more welcoming environment – many more voters with disabilities can be expected to vote in the November election and beyond. This is a great thing.

Your editorial also reflects the fallacy – often repeated in objections to laws requiring ramps and curb cuts and other accessibility features – that only voters with disabilities benefit from using the new equipment. Just as ramps benefit those pulling wheeled luggage and parents pushing strollers, accessible voting equipment – generally touch screens with audio capability – may be successfully used by all kinds of voters, not just those who are blind. In fact, many voters in jurisdictions throughout the state used such equipment on March 21. I used a touch screen and thought it was great! St. Clair County officials – not voters with disabilities – owe the public an explanation as to why your voters did not use this new equipment. Why weren't voters with visual disabilities and all sorts of other voters offered the equipment and shown how it could benefit them?

What is the right price for the right to vote? In a state in which millions of taxpayer dollars are spent to assure that a former governor accused of corruption receives due process of law, it is not too much to expect that some taxpayer dollars also be used to assure that lawabiding American citizens with disabilities are able to vote by a secret ballot. As to the value of this right, I offer you the words of one blind voter who did use the new equipment:

"It was a momentous event for me. I keep trying to figure out the best words to explain it. So far, these are the best I know. Before, I always thought I was an American citizen. Now that I cast my first secret ballot with my own hands, I know I am an American citizen. It is profoundly empowering when your nation (through the hard work of many people) tells you in a very concrete way that you too are created equal and endowed with the same inalienable rights that belong to every citizen."

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