Sequoia Advantage voting machine is not Wheelchair Voter friendly

The Sequoia Advnatge voting machine is an older "pushbutton" Computerized voting machine, first introduced in the mid 1980s. The Advantage has been in the news recently, concerning "problems in Chicago and Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania Dr. Shamos changed results in the WinEDS tabulation software. TO me it sounds like DRE advocate Dr. Shamos hacked the Sequoia tabultor.

This picture is of a ACLU Lawwyer at the July 2005 Voting Machine demo in Newark NJ. I have annotated the picture to indicate the basic dimensions of the ballot face of the Advantage DRE.



Here is a page from the 2005 voting system standards. The annotations are mine.



These Wheelchair standards state the the top of the ballot face cannot exceed 48 inches. In a vertical position the top of the ballot face of the Advantage DRE is 58 inches high. If the ballot face is angled back, as in the top photo, the top is 54 inches high. There is no way the Advantage DRE can even come close to meeting these standards. NO matter how the ballot face is positioned, it is a good 10 inches too high.

Roger Fox.

Founder, Essex County Task Froce on Voting.

Why am I not surprised. It's all a load of shit.

Here's what I witnessed at my pricinct where 2000 voted in 2005. There was one handicapped voter who needed special assistance.

A car drove up,the driver asked one of us to go in and tell the poll workers that there was someone who would have great difficulty coming in the polling place. The people inside brought out an electronic slate ballot, held it in front of the voter and she cast her ballot. She thanked them and her friend drove her off.

How hard is that?

How many handicapiped voters need to actually come in the polling area?

In one TN county, a judge threw out the funding request for special equipment and said that the county could hire a charffeur and assistant to pick up the handiciapped voters, help them vote and drive them back. Nice service...no special parking or anyting.

This is very odd.

I saw the ES&S Ivotronic taken out to a voters car many times. I hate to say it, but curbside voting is a great opportunity for the smaller touchscreens.

Great catch!

Recommended.

:kick:

Outrageous. Thank you for posting this, and thank you for the work you're doing.

:toast:

from last summer. The Sequoia Advantage DRE is obviously tuff to use for most wheelchair voters, those who can lean forward can handle it. Of course not reaching the top row of the ballot kinda sucks.

doesn't that deprive them of their right to a secret ballot?

how do you do that with a partially paralyzed wheelchair voter? Lift them up, but dont drop them,......... consider the legal liability of your actions as a do-gooder.

Or as the NJ Assistant Attorney General said recently, they can use a stick to reach the top row.

And even *if* they can be lifted, liability is too great for those who would want to assist them.

... But they can always use a stick? What a commendable public servant you have serving as NJ's Assistant Attorney General.

:grr:

:argh:

:argh:

I trust you'll repost this in ER at some point.

Also...

New Mexico Canvass Data Shows Higher Undervote Rates in Minority Precincts where Pushbutton DREs Were Used

http://www.votersunite.org/info/NM_UVbyMachineandEthnicity.pdf