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Senate Approves Electronic Balloting Bill
Rep. Green's HB 320 Allows Privacy for Vision-Impaired Voters

(JUNEAU) - Blind and vision-impaired Alaskans will have the same opportunity to exercise their right to vote in private as other voters, under a House bill passed by the Senate today to allow electronic balloting.

Rep. Joe Green (R-Anchorage) introduced the bill and guided it through passage in the House and Senate at the request of blind and vision impaired Alaskans, who currently must ask a sighted person to assist them in the voting booth by reading and filling out the ballot at their direction.

"First off, it is simply unfair for visually impaired Alaskans to have to have someone else in the voting booth with them to cast what is supposed to be a private ballot," said Green. "Second, they can never really be sure that the person in there with them is really filling out the ballot in accordance with their wishes. This bill addresses both of these concerns."

House Bill 320 opens the door to visually impaired accessible voting equipment in Alaska by removing the statutory requirement that all state general election ballots must be printed on paper. The bill also requires any electronic balloting equipment purchased by the Division of Elections to be accessible to the visually impaired.

There are several types of electronic balloting equipment on the market that allow the voter to listen to the complete text of ballot measures as many times as desired, and to indicate a voting preference in complete privacy. Depending on the design of each piece of equipment, selections are made using simple knobs, buttons, or keypads, Green said.

While the bill is a first and necessary step in laying the foundation for future accommodations for the visually impaired, it does not obligate the state to immediately purchase large numbers of such equipment. Rather, it grants authority to the Division of Elections to purchase such equipment as necessary to replace outmoded or obsolete equipment.

Green noted that HB 320 has become known as the "Frank Haas Act," as it continues and expands the work of a long-time advocate for Alaska's visually impaired, who spent years working to improve visually impaired Alaskans' voting rights by encouraging the use of large-print ballots.

HB 320 passed the Senate unanimously, and moves next to the governor for his signature.

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