PORT LUDLOW — With the advent of the Help America Vote Act in 2002, all polling locations across the nation are required to provide a method for disabled people to vote without assistance from another person.
That keeps the voter’s balloting confidential.
A Port Ludlow woman has invented a low-tech system that helps the disabled vote — solo.
Computerized voting machines didn’t seem to be the answer to 15-year Port Ludlow resident Ellen Theisen, 60, because they malfunction.
She began to worry about the democratic voting process.
With 22 years experience as a technical writer of computer software, Theisen knew the limitations of computers and what their pitfalls are.
“What got my interest was when I found out democracy was dependent on the correct alignment of ones and zeros,” said Theisen of the digits that provide digital data.
“I know enough about software to know that it’s unwise to trust computers with that.”
So in summer 2005, Theisen set out to fix the problem and offer disabled voters a trustworthy and private way to cast their ballots.
Voting on paper
Her solution: the Vote-PAD, or Voting-on-Paper Assistive Device.
“It seemed to me that you ought to be able to design something that a person with a disability could use without having to use electronic voting,” Theisen said.
The Vote-PAD system uses a plastic template for the ballot. Holes are cut out where the ovals to be marked are, and raised bumps on the template provide a physical indication where they are to aid the sight-impaired.
The disabled voter listens to an audio tape that explains the ballot and the voting options.
When the vote is cast, a battery-powered wand is used to verify the vote. It vibrates when dragged over the chosen voting option so the voter knows that the intended oval was marked.
“It looks pretty simple, but it actually does work,” said Theisen.
“We’ve really got a lot of advice from people who have tested it.”
Although the patent is still pending, Theisen’s invention has been certified in Wisconsin and in Yolo and Nevada counties of California.
