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Page 10
November 9, 2011
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Patrick John Sweeney, P.C.
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd
Portland, Oregon
Portland:
(503) 244-2080
H illsoboro:
(503) 244-2081
Facsim ile:
(503) 244-2084
Email:
S w eeney @ P D X L aw yer.com
Your Care
Our First
Priority
Dr. Mareelitte
Failla
Chiropractic
Physician
W?
are located at
Lewis Crew, 75, receives help from a member o f a voter assistance team while voting on an iPad in
Beaverton. (AP photo)
1716 N.E. 42nd Ave.
Portland, OR 97213
Disabled Use iPad To Vote
(Between Broadway and Sandy Blvd.)
• Automobile accident injuries
• C hronic headache and jo in t pain
• Workers Compensation injuries
Call for an appointment!
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(503)228-6140
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Smiling About!
• Professional Services • Affordable Prices
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Melanie Block, L.D.
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503-230-0207
200 NE 20th Ave., Suite 100
Portland OR 97232
Free parking
New technology supplements traditional ballot
(AP) — Oregon was first in the
nation to have all residents vote
by mail. Now it's pioneering an
other idea: vote by iPad.
Voters in five counties are fill
ing out and returning their mail-in
ballots for a Tuesday special pri
mary election to replace former
U.S. Rep. David Wu, who re
signed following a sex scandal. A
handful will mark their ballots not
with a pen, but with the tip of their
finger.
It's the latest attempt at using
new technology to help voters
with disabilities cast ballots pri
vately.
Armed with iPads and portable
printers, county election workers
are going to parks, nursing homes,
community centers and anywhere
else they might find groups of
voters who have trouble filling
out traditional paper ballots.
Using the iPad, disabled voters
can call up the right ballot and tap
the screen to pick a candidate,
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with or without the help of elec
tion workers. The voters then
print the completed ballot and
stuff it in an envelope to sign, take
with them and drop in the mail or
an official ballot box.
Voters with poor vision can
adjust the font size and screen
colors, or they can have the iPad
read them the candidates' names
and even the voter pamphlet. A
voter with limited mobility could
attach a "sip-and-puff' device to
control the screen. Lewis Crews,
75, who has severe arthritis, didn't
have to hold a pen to fill out his
ballot.
"It's a lot simpler for me. I
think it's a great setup they got,"
Crews told The Associated Press
last week in a phone interview
after he filled out and printed one
of the first-ever iPad ballots.
E lections o fficials helped
Crews operate the iPad, he said,
"but now that I've seen how it
works, I'm confident I can do it
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on my own."
State elections officials say
they'll use the same system in the
special general election in Janu
ary. And if the pilot project is
successful, they’ll make the ser
vice available across the state.
They believe Oregon is the first
state to try using iPads to mark
ballots.
Elections officials emphasize
that, technically speaking, nobody
is voting by iPad. Rather, they're
using the device to mark a ballot
that's dispensed from a portable
printer and mailed to elections
offices for counting, just like a
hand-marked ballot.
Federal law requires that people
with disabilities have the same op
portunity for access and participa
tion in the voting process, includ
ing privacy and independence. That
means polling places have to be
accessible, and elections officials
have to make accessible voting
equipment available.
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