July 2006 Edition - Access Press

Page 1

July 10, 2006

Inside

1

“That we are to stand by the president,

right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile but is morally treasonable to the American public.”

■ Mayor Sam Sullivan, Vancouver— p. 3 ■ Beep Ball— p. 4 ■ Medicaid Town Hall Forum— p. 9-12

– Theodore Roosevelt Page 2 Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Mpls. MN Permit No. 4766

Volume 18, Number 7

Minnesota’s Disability

Community Newspaper

July 10, 2006

Voting Machine Gets High Marks by Mai Thor

T

Cheryl Feist of Dawes County NE demonstrates the AutoMARK voting machine.

he buzz in the disability community for the upcoming elections is the debut of the AutoMARK voting machine. People with disabilities all over the state are extremely excited to have this ballot marking machine available to enable disabled voters to finally have the opportunity to vote independently and privately. As a ballot marking machine, the AutoMARK performs as sort of an “electronic pen.” The ballot is inserted into the machine, and the voter can choose the candidates by either touching the screen of the machine or using the keypad.

(Photo courtesy of The Chadron Record.)

ADA Celebrates 16th Year Keynote To Examine Recent Court Decisions

A

n evening celebration has been planned in honor of the 16th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The gala will include entertainment by locally known performers Kevin Kling and Michael Deutsch. The keynote speaker will be Barry Taylor, legal advocacy director, Equip for Equality, Inc., the Illinois Protection and Advocacy system. Admission is free! Accommodation requests must be received no later than July 12, 2006. Please RSVP for the celebration and/or make accommodation requests to Betty at bettyc@mcil-mn. org, or call 651-646-8342, TTY 651-602-2001. For more information visit www. adaminnesota.org

Wednesday, July 26 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Radisson University Hotel 615 Washington Avenue SE, Minneapolis Cash bar available & light refreshments will be served.

Sponsors of this event include: ADA MN, Access Press, MN State Council on Disability, MCIL, UCP, Institute on Community Integration, DOER, VSA arts of MN, MN Dept of Human Service/ State Operated Services, Courage Center and Arc Greater Twin Cities. Illinois Attorney, Local Performers to Headline ADA Celebration Illinois attorney Barry Taylor will deliver the keynote address at this month’s ADA celebration in downtown Minneapolis. He will discuss current Supreme Court decisions and the state of the ADA today. Since November 1996, Taylor has been the Legal Advocacy Director at Equip for

Equality, Inc. (EEI), the Illinois Protection and Advocacy system, in which he supervises the legal services, self-advocacy and training programs. Taylor has also overseen many individual and systemic disability discrimination cases, including successful federal ADA suits against the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Chicago Police Department, and the Chicago Transit Authority. He is currently counsel in a class action on behalf of people with developmental disabilities living in large private institutions who are seeking community services. Taylor also oversees EEI’s selfadvocacy training project, which in its first eight years trained approximately 23,000 people with disabilities on the ADA, guardianship, transpor-

The machine has audio instructions to guide the voter through each race. After voting is completed, the AutoMARK will verify the votes that have been made on the ballot with the voter. After verification, the voter can instruct the AutoMARK to “mark” the ballot by printing it. The ballot is ejected and can then be taken to the ballot counter. “This is an exciting breakthrough for blind Minnesotans and for other people with disabilities. For the first time, blind people will be able to vote without any assistance from another human being,” said Steve Jacobson, a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota.

The primary and general elections are approaching quickly. This year, primaries will be held on September 12th and the general election on November 7th. Voters are encouraged to become familiar with AutoMARK before then so that they’ll know what to expect. There will be many opportunities during the coming months to try out the new machine. Most counties will provide demonstrations in their respective government centers. City halls, libraries, various disability organizations and county fairs—and the state fair—are other venues where folks will be able to cast a practice vote on the new device. The Medicaid town hall forums (see pp 912) will also provide opportunities for people from all parts of the state to try the new machine. ■

Where to Go to Test Out the AutoMARK Voting Machine in the Coming Months.

tation, voting, employment and special education. Taylor has also given numerous presentations on the ADA across the country to people with disabilities, employers, service providers and advocacy organizations. Prior to becoming Legal Advocacy Director, he was a Senior Attorney for EEI; his primary focus was systemic litigation

• Hennepin County demonstrations will be held at service centers, libraries and malls. FFI: HC.Vote@co.hennepin.mn.us, 612-348-5151 • Ramsey County demonstrations will be held in various facilities including nursing homes, libraries and hi-rises. FFI: elections@co.ramsey.mn.us, 651-266-2171 • Anoka County demonstrations will be held in the county government center in Anoka and in each city hall by midJuly. FFI: Elections@co.anoka.mn.us, 763-323-5275 • Dakota County demonstrations are currently scheduled for the County Fair from August 7th-13th and the Lakeville area council meeting on July 3rd. FFI: elections@co.dakota.mn.us, 651-438-4380 • Washington County demonstrations will be held in the county government center in Stillwater and in each city hall by the beginning of August. Demonstrations also are scheduled for the Washington County Fair on Saturday, August 5th. FFI: elections@co.washington.mn.us, 651-430-6175

Barry Taylor and education under the ADA. ADA - cont. on p. 14

• Statewide: °Medicaid Town Hall Forums (see p. 9). °The Office of the Secretary of State is also touring the state this summer with the AutoMARK . FFI: go to www. sos.state.mn.us/home/index.asp and click on About the Office/News/Voter Outreach and Education. At this Web site you can also recommend an event for an AutoMARK demonstration.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.