Article: Yolo County, CA chooses the Vote-PAD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Ellen Theisen
President, Vote-PAD, Inc.
ellen@vote-pad.us
360-437-9922

Yolo County, California Chooses the Vote-PAD

Port Ludlow, WA. Thursday, January 19, 2006. Vote-PAD, Inc. is proud to announce that it has reached an agreement to provide the Vote-PAD (Voting-on-Paper Assistive Device) to Yolo County, California to assist persons with disabilities in marking a paper ballot.

Ms. Freddie Oakley, Clerk-Recorder of Yolo County, said, ìAfter an enormous amount of research, we in Yolo County feel lucky to have found this assistive device. My skepticism about computer-controlled voting is well-known, and so is my concern for poll workers. The Vote-PAD is so well thought out, it keeps control of the elections with the people�s servants rather than surrendering it to big corporations. And at the same time it provides the most useful features for persons with a wide variety of disabilities of any assistive device we've seen.

The Vote-PAD is an inexpensive, non-computerized, voter-assist device that helps people with visual or dexterity impairments to vote independently and privately. The Vote-PAD was developed to help small jurisdictions, especially those using hand-counted paper ballots, comply with the accessibility requirement of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002. It allows them to comply without changing their entire election process to accommodate computerized voting. Since its release, it has also gained interest from larger jurisdictions that use optical scanners to count ballots.

Ellen Theisen, President of Vote-PAD, Inc. and developer of the device, said, "We're delighted to be able to offer jurisdictions like Ms. Oakley�s a product that makes sense. Towns and counties all across the country are struggling with how to meet federal requirements. The law requires each polling place to have a method by which individuals with disabilities can vote unassisted. The Vote-PAD offers a simple, affordable, reasonable solution."

As evidence surfaces about the failures of computerized voting systems and the lack of accessibility on many of them, it is difficult for jurisdictions to know where to turn.

"The Vote-PAD provides the alternative they need," Ms. Theisen says."It is neither a computerized device, nor a voting system. With the Vote-PAD, assistance is simple and direct. It allow individuals to retain the dignity of marking a paper ballot the way other voters do."

The Vote-PAD, developed in consultation with members of the disabilities community, has performed successfully for people with a wide range of disabilities including those with visual and dexterity impairments.

See http://www.vote-pad.us for more information about the device and how it used by people with disabilities.

This press release is posted at http://www.vote-pad.us/media/yolocountypurchase.htm

See "Vote-PAD Rocks the Disabled Vote" http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70036-0.html?tw=wn_tophead_4

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