Do Disabled NY Voters Just Want To Vote Absentee?
"People on the Otsego County Board of Elections list of voters with permanent medical disabilities want to vote by absentee ballot, not come to the polls -- no matter what new and expensive equipment is installed for them," reported the Oneonta, NY Daily Star newspaper in an April 10 story.
"We have 263 people on that list, and we sent letters to them to see what they think," , the county?s Democratic deputy elections commissioner Lucinda Jarvis told the paper,
"We heard from about 90 percent, and they said they'd much rather continue voting by absentee ballot."
Chris Zachmeyer, executive director for the Catskill Center for
Independence, told the paper that the survey of 263 voters was not representative.
"Trust me, there are a lot more than 263 people with disabilities in Otsego
County," she said, adding that "Voting is a social event as well as
a civic responsibility."
Read full story: Survey: Disabled prefer absentee ballots (The Daily Star).
This is a rural region of New York State, with limited transportation options for people with disabilities. Perhaps if it was easier for people to get to the polling sites, more people would chose not to use an asbsentee ballot.
Posted by: Denise | April 18, 2006 02:14 PM