Voters who have disabilities will now be able to vote independently and privately for the first time in Connecticut.
A new Accessible Voter System is being offered this year at every polling place and allows voters with disabilities to vote using a touchscreen or by listening to the candidates and punching in their choices.
The computer system then shows a summary of their selected candidates or it repeats it through the headphones before printing the ballot.
Once the ballot is printed, the voter can physically feed it into the tabulator, where the ballots are counted.
In the past, there was an electronic system, but the votes would be counted by hand.
“It allows them to participate in their democracy just like everyone else and we encourage everyone to vote, that’s the most important part. It’s an important part of everyone’s life and this is them fully participating in their community,” said Kevin Zingler, the executive director of MARC Inc. of Manchester, a non-profit organization that advocates for people with disabilities.
