2006! An election year with some new happenings for us in the polling place!

And a continuing mission for a group that started in 2004---greater accessibility to our elections system so all people in Maine have an equal opportunity to cast their votes. Such a simple idea with a very time sensitive finale! How far are we from success?

Here’s the work that is in progress.
The Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s office has sent letters to each municipality offering ideas and assistance toward making polling places physically accessible. Each place has been surveyed and by now, they know what issues they must address. Now, its up to them to get the work done. Is your town ready? Do you have a stake in this? Its your right to vote, so you can help.

Visit or call your town clerk and ask about what’s happening. Urge the town to take actions that will lead them toward fully accessible polling places. Let them know that there are people with disabilities in their community who want to be involved.

The Elections Division has also completed contract work with the vendor of "Inspire, Vote by Phone" (IVS LLC) the choice for accessible election equipment. It is a system based on using a telephone for voting and a fax machine for the paper ballot resulting from the vote. Town clerks and election officials will be trained on its use and it is hoped that people with disabilities will be adequately accommodated by the system. You can see more about the system at http://www.ivsllc.com/

Meanwhile, the Disability Rights Center will be offering trial runs of the system around the state between now and Election Day in November. The outreach to groups has begun and a schedule of events is forming. If you are a member of a group that would like to see and try out the new system, call the Disability Rights Center, ask for the coordinator, Ross Doerr, and set up a date and time.

The DRC is also offering trainings on "disability etiquette" to election officials. They will perform these in conjunction with the work of the Elections Division.

And, the All Maine Votes group? We have developed a questionaire that has been mailed to Federal and state candidates. You can see the questionaires now, and look for results from the candidates in about a month. These questionaires were developed with the help of many interest groups from the disability community and our hope is that candidates will give their opinions about issues that are important to us. If you know, or meet a candidate within the next month, encourage them to make their opinions known and return the questionaire to the Disability Rights Center. Once questionaires have been returned, the results will be tabulated.

The other current agenda item of All Maine Votes is a candidate forum. Getting candidates together in one place is a tough job, but we’re trying to do just that so you can personally ask your questions of the candidates on the top of the Federal and State tickets.

We have one Federal senate seat, two Federal House seats, and a Governor’s race that we’re trying to address in the forum. Watch for a date late in September with a probable location in or near Augusta and get ready to join in!

Many of these activities are being funded with one time monies from the Federal "Help America Vote Act". If people with disabilities make our voices heard, we can be a strong player in the campaign season. All of these activities are geared toward that end. You can help by your participation and by encouraging your town, your organizations, your candidates, and your friends to take part in this work toward a more accessible elections system.

You can reach the Disability Rights Center at
626-2774 or toll free
at 1-800-452-1948 (v/tty)

The Federal candidate questionaire is here

The State questionaire is here