Another insufferable tale of inaccessible voting

Were you able to cast your vote independently? I was not. Apparently, because I am a blind individual, the Board of Elections needed the NYPD to help me cast my vote on Election Day as my assigned polling site was thoroughly unprepared for me to do so like everyone else.

I am blind, but I am also an independent, competent 46-year-old professional who is readily able to compensate for my lack of vision when provided with reasonable accessibility options.

I had a terrible experience on Election Day. I went to vote at P.S/I.S. 226 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and they had no working accessible voting machines at the site. They were supposed to have a tech person for these types of issues, but alas, I was told that there was only one tech person for 25 sites.

After everyone bumbled around for about 45 minutes in utter confusion, they did not know what to do other than to regale me with insufferable excuses about why the Ballot Marking Device (BMD) was not in working order. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) mandates that every polling site must have at least one functioning BMD to ensure a private and independent voting experience for blind Americans.

They were very apologetic, incessantly condescending and rude, they felt so bad for me, the “blind guy”… The only thing most of them could think to do was order me to sit down or yell at each other to “have him sit!” as if I were not standing in front of them.

One lady — who was doing her best impression of a broken record emphatically wanted me to know that she was a site coordinator. To the best of my knowledge, the only thing she could coordinate were weirdly inappropriate conversations — she kept trying to discuss a family member’s legal blindness with me and how she wanted him to “use a stick like mine.” I tried explaining that I was just there to vote and really wanted to get on with my day.

After an hour of the mishigas, I decided to call AIRA from my iPhone — a visual interpreting service for the blind which connects a customer to a trained agent who gives visual feedback pertaining to the current situation or task via a video call.

Unbeknownst to me, either a poll worker or someone from the Board of Elections called the cops because they thought I was nefariously taking pictures or video. I was merely attempting to obtain a reasonable level of non-visual access to my surroundings given the level of not so stellar service I was receiving.

After the initial awkward introduction with the sergeant, the two officers from the 66th Precinct proved to be much more pleasant and agreeable than the poll workers could ever hope to be.

A tech finally did show up after 90 minutes or so; after another hour of working on the machine, he concluded that it was inoperable. At this point — after 2.5 hours — I was relegated to having my ballot filled out by one of the workers at the site. They assigned two people, a Republican and a Democrat, to monitor the process. Since the Board of Elections deemed it necessary to have the assistance of the NYPD to exercise my right to vote, I figured we should not waste city resources; I would like to thank Officer Justin Quinones for ensuring the integrity of my ballot.

I should have the same rights, autonomy, and access to vote privately as every other person who entered that facility on Election Day. Why aren’t my tax dollars good enough to have an equitable and autonomous voting experience like everyone else? I always knew that the Board of Elections was a shambles; I guess things haven’t changed! How about modernizing the voting experience by incorporating accessible technology to streamline the process for all citizens?

Citizens with disabilities should have the same rights, autonomy, and access to opportunity as non-disabled citizens. This includes the right to vote for our choice of representation in government.

The question I leave you with is, was I truly able to cast my vote with the same level of autonomy and dignity as you? Equity and excellence in NYC? Not for accessible voting, more like a travesty or debacle!

Pedulla is a supervisor for Educational Vision Services at the city Department of Education as well as a member of the Advisory Committee on Transit Accessibility. These opinions are his and do not represent these organizations.