Published: September 16, 2009 08:13 am      

Letters to the Editor: September 16, 2009

BMDs work much better for so many

During last year’s elections, the new Ballot Marking Devices were introduced at every poll site across the state as part of New York’s plan to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act passed in 2002. This fall, BMDs and ballot scanners will be available in some of Otsego County’s polling places. HAVA requires that each state provide its voters, including voters with disabilities, with “the same opportunity for access and participation (including privacy and independence)” in the electoral process.

“I will be able to vote in the same manner and in the same place as everyone else,” said Charles Reichardt, systems advocate at the Catskill Center for Independence. Mr. Reichardt, who is blind, has had to rely on others to “pull the lever” for him in past elections in order to cast his vote on the antiquated lever voting machines.

BMDs offer a more-comfortable voting experience: voters with cognitive or mental health disabilities find it less stressful than the lever machines, voters with mobility impairments may prefer selecting candidates with the push buttons on the BMD instead of filling in ovals on paper, wheelchair users can vote without the obstacles presented by lever machines, the audio component allows a voter who is blind or visually impaired to navigate the ballot, and the BMD’s capacity to enlarge print and color contrast will also make voting much easier for seniors with low vision.

Most importantly, these accessible features allow voters with disabilities to make their choices without relying on anyone else. The disability and senior communities, totaling one-third of New York state’s electorate, can fully and inclusively engage in one of the most important activities of our democratic process: to privately and independently exercise their fundamental right to vote.

Visit www.vote-ny.com for information on the new voting systems.

Helen Benlisa

Oneonta

Benlisa is Project HAVA Coordinator for the Catskill Center for Independence.

Businesses need to fix linking road

It is an utter disgrace that the drive linking the Southside Mall, Burger King and Wal-Mart remains in utter disrepair because none of the businesses seems to take responsibility for it. More than once I have driven over it in the last year and there have been potholes that are large and deep enough to seriously damage a vehicle. These potholes went weeks befo

re someone finally filled them in. I’m not sure which of the businesses actually owns the drive, but something needs to be done to maintain it. All three businesses need to step up and properly repair this drive, as it benefits all of them and the city as it helps to reduce traffic on the main road.

Jonathan Chambers

Maryland

No truer words

In his letter, “Left is destroying our democracy,” on Sept. 9, Mr. Howard Lynch ends by citing the Fox News entertainers O’Reilly, Beck and Hannity, as purveyors of “untwisted truth on the air.” While reading his rant, I was reminded of Jack Nicholson’s line in “A Few Good Men”: “Truth? You can’t handle the truth!” John A. Rudy Cooperstown