For some disabled voters in Onondaga County, casting their ballots will get much easier in this November’s election.

New voting systems specially designed for the disabled will replace some of the old lever-style voting machines for the election on Nov. 3.

Helen Kiggins, the Republican election commissioner says the new voting system is user—friendly for the disabled. “The advantage is they can vote independently and in private,” said Kiggins.

With the old lever-style machines, said Kiggins, voters in wheelchairs could not reach the levers, and blind voters could not see the ballot.

With the news machines, disabled voters have three options to fill out their ballots. 

For disabled voters who can use their arms, they can use a hand-held device to scroll and select their choices on the ballot.

For those who cannot use their arms, they can use their mouth to select their choices by puffing through a straw. With the straw, the voter can navigate through the ballot — choosing each candidate with a puff.

For voters who can only use their feet, a paddleboard with buttons designated for each foot enables them to fill out their ballots.

Ed Ryan, the Democratic election commissioner, said the new voting system allows disabled voters to maneuver the machine by themselves. “Whether they can move their fingers, or they sip and puff, or they can move their foot and hit paddles” they can move independently, said Ryan.

But if they need help, voters can use a call button to summon a polling inspector.

Once voters have selected their choices for offices, the machine prints the marked ballot that is scanned and counted. The printed ballot creates they create a physical record of votes  that can be traced and recounted if needed.

Bo Lipari, of New Yorkers for Verified Voting , says having a paper ballot is important to the integrity of voting. “Now we have a permanent record” of votes, said Lipari. The old lever-system machines, he said, “left no independent record of the vote.”

Onondaga County has bought 275 new voting machines. Each costs $12,500 for a total so far of more than $3 million.  

(Shardé Edwards is a graduate student in broadcast journalism.)

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