Blind Voters Learn How To Cast Their Ballots For November Elections

“Welcome to the voting machine.”

It was the voice Elsa Enriquez had been waiting to hear. She’s visually impaired.

“I want to be able to vote very independently in the future,” she said.

Enriquez and a handful of her classmates at the Braille Institute received training Tuesday on how to use the audio electronic voting machine. The last time Enriquez voted, she had a frustrating experience with the apparatus.

“It would never turn on,” she said. “So, I wasn’t able to use it. I had to have assistance of someone who was sighted and fill out my ballot in paper.”

Martin Hubler, of the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, said every precinct has an audio machine.

The machines became available in 2000, but Tuesday was the first time the county conducted traning on how to use them.

“The folks I worked with today have gone away feeling good about the system,” he said, “and [they’re] really prepared to come in November and let their voice be heard.”

Hubler said paper ballots in braille would be inefficient. They’re too expensive to print, and according to the Braille Institute, only 10% of visually-impaired people know braille.

The audio machine is connected to a remote control. The recorded voice guides voters through the ballot, reading aloud the candidates’ names and the ballot questions.

Enriquez said the machines need a little tweaking still. For instance, she didn’t like waiting for the voice to read all of the choices before making her decision. But, she said the machines were still a big improvement over paper ballots.

Her priority was to vote — and to vote alone. Mission accomplished.