The Vote-PAD will be tested in conjunction with the Hart InterCivic Ballot Now system used in Yolo County, California and the Diebold AccuVote Optical Scanner used in Trinity County. The California test plan is designed to show whether or not the Vote-PAD is accessible to people with disabilities while accurately representing the intent of the voter.

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Contact:
Ellen Theisen
ellen@vote-pad.us
360-437-9922

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote-PAD, Inc. Invites People with Disabilities to
the California Certification Testing on July 19, 20

July 10, 2006. On July 19 and 20, the California Secretary of State's office will examine the Vote-PAD, a non-computerized voting device, in an effort to provide counties with an innovative alternative to the controversial electronic voting systems currently certified for use in California. The device has been approved for use in Wisconsin in conjunction with hand counted paper ballots.

Vote-PAD, Inc. is a small company, formed in response to complaints from people with disabilities about the overstated accessibility of e-voting systems. The company's mission was to develop an assistive device that would remove barriers to exercising the right to vote and allow people with a wide range of disabilities to mark a paper ballot independently and privately.

From its inception, the Vote-PAD device was shaped through testing and input by people in the disabilities community. The company's website, www.vote-pad.us, includes testimonials from many who praise its accessibility. (http://www.vote-pad.us/testimonials.asp)

The Vote-PAD will be tested in conjunction with the Hart InterCivic Ballot Now system used in Yolo County, California and the Diebold AccuVote Optical Scanner used in Trinity County.

The California test plan is designed to show whether or not the Vote-PAD is accessible to people with disabilities while accurately representing the intent of the voter.

"We believe this thorough testing should become a standard for testing the accessibility of all voting systems designed for people with disabilities," Ellen Theisen, President of Vote-PAD, Inc., said.

The Counties, the State of California, and Vote-PAD, Inc. join in inviting you to be an official tester on July 19 or 20 in Sacramento if you have a disability that has made it difficult or impossible for you to vote in the past using standard voting equipment.

To schedule a time to test, call the California Elections Division at 916-657-2166 and/or email testCA@vote-pad.us. Allow about an hour to learn about the equipment and perform the scripted testing.

"A true test requires a lot of people with a wide range of disabilities," Theisen said. "Our goal is to have 200 testers over the two-day period."

The testing will be performed at the multipurpose room in the California Secretary of State's office building at 1500 11th Street in Sacramento.

Vote-PAD, Inc.'s invitation to testers is here: http://www.vote-pad.us/media/tester-invitation.asp. Their request for assistance in notifying potential testers is here: http://www.vote-pad.us/media/ca-invitation.asp.

This media release is available at: http://www.vote-pad.us/media/ca-cert.htm

Submitter: Joan Brunwasser

Submitters Website: http://www.opednews.com/author/author79.html

Submitters Bio:

Joan Brunwasser is a co-founder of Citizens for Election Reform (CER) which since 2005 existed for the sole purpose of raising the public awareness of the critical need for election reform. Our goal: to restore fair, accurate, transparent, secure elections where votes are cast in private and counted in public. Because the problems with electronic (computerized) voting systems include a lack of transparency and the ability to accurately check and authenticate the vote cast, these systems can alter election results and therefore are simply antithetical to democratic principles and functioning.



Since the pivotal 2004 Presidential election, Joan has come to see the connection between a broken election system, a dysfunctional, corporate media and a total lack of campaign finance reform. This has led her to enlarge the parameters of her writing to include interviews with whistle-blowers and articulate others who give a view quite different from that presented by the mainstream media. She also turns the spotlight on activists and ordinary folks who are striving to make a difference, to clean up and improve their corner of the world. By focusing on these intrepid individuals, she gives hope and inspiration to those who might otherwise be turned off and alienated. She also interviews people in the arts in all their variations - authors, journalists, filmmakers, actors, playwrights, and artists. Why? The bottom line: without art and inspiration, we lose one of the best parts of ourselves. And we're all in this together. If Joan can keep even one of her fellow citizens going another day, she considers her job well done.


When Joan hit one million page views, OEN Managing Editor, Meryl Ann Butler interviewed her, turning interviewer briefly into interviewee. Read the interview here.

While the news is often quite depressing, Joan nevertheless strives to maintain her mantra: "Grab life now in an exuberant embrace!"


Joan has been Election Integrity Editor for OpEdNews since December, 2005. Her articles also appear at Huffington Post, RepublicMedia.TV and Scoop.co.nz.