The breakdown:
- Blind and disabled Michigan voters report that Voter Assist Terminals (VATs) often fail, have low audio, or lack headphones.
- These problems can turn a normally quick voting process into hours of troubleshooting, discouraging independent participation.
- Advocates Stephen Handschu and Richard Clay say malfunctioning machines violate their civil rights and prevent private, independent voting.
- The advocates are pressing Detroit officials and clerks to fix the equipment before the upcoming election, and City Council members have pledged to address the concerns.
DETROIT - Stephen Handschu has been blind since birth. He’s able to see 3 percent of what a fully sighted person can.
He’s been fighting for years for people with disabilities to be able to vote independently since he was a teenager.
“There are people out there trying to vote for candidates of every party who are blind, or otherwise disabled, who are being denied the opportunity to vote independently,” Handschu, 79, said on Friday.
He’s referring to specialized voting machines called Voter Assist Terminals, or VAT machines, meant to help people with physical disabilities vote independently. They are used at polling locations across Michigan.
However, the machines are rife with issues. They reportedly don’t power up, or the audio is too low.
Plus, not all terminals have headphones available. The technical issues turn voting, which is often done within minutes for able-bodied people, into an hours-long ordeal that often makes people want to give up.
“You should be able to use those machines,” Handschu said. “One year, my daughter and I sat there for six hours trying to get the machine to work and she finally assisted me.”
“If I don’t get to do this independently, it is a failure…”
Richard Clay is the president of the Detroit Advocates of the Blind. He arrived being driven by his father, Richard Clay Sr., and walked up with a determined confidence.
Like Stephen, he uses a long white cane when he walks. The word both men used repeatedly was “independence.”
“They should be working, and I should be able to vote independently just like everyone else does,” Clay said. “This is a violation of my federal civil rights.”
Access to voting is covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Both state and federal law require:
- Accessible voter registration
- Accessible polling places
- Accessible, available, and operational voting systems
- A service animal be allowed to accompany them inside the polling place
- The right to vote privately and independently or with assistance, if needed
- Assistance from a person of their choice, including a friend, family member, or poll worker.
While options such as absentee ballots are also available for them, people with disabilities like Richard and Stephen want to be able to do this themselves.
“The people at my polling place know me, and it generally takes us about 30 minutes to an hour,” Clay said. “Just poking around, plugging in headphones, unplugging things, pushing buttons.”
“I really want to try to make it work,” Clay said. “Because in my mind, if I don’t get to do this independently, it is a failure.”
What Detroit City Council said in response
Richard and Stephen, along with dozens of other advocates, went before the Detroit City Council earlier this week to urge them to address the issue.
They have also tried on several occasions to reach Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey and Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett.
With the election just a month away, they feel it’s imperative to address this.
At that meeting, City Council president James Tate said they are aware of the group’s issues and have raised them with Winfrey’s office.
A spokesman for Councilwoman Gabriela Santiago Romero, who represents the 6th District in Southwest Detroit, said she will be meeting with the group next week.
“If there’s a close election in any race, elections could be swung by the fact that we can or cannot vote,” Clay said. “It is wrong, and we’re going to stay on it.”
