Self-Advocacy Online Blog

Advocate for Accessibility

Eva Reed is a young woman with light tan skin, long dark hair, and dark brown eyes. Her hair is pulled up in a a braided bun on top of her head. She is wearing a long-sleeve hoodie shirt printed with a sloth and floral design. She is smiling and looking at the camera while sitting in her electric wheel chair. The background is boldly colored furniture.

Eva is smiling at looking at the camera. She is wearing an I voted sticker, a purple jacket, and a black harness. Evan is next to her mom, Cindy. Cindy has light skin, short blonde hair and glasses. She is wearing a light gray shirt and an I voted sticker.

Eva and her mom, Cindy, after voting in the 2024 Presidential election.

I have voted ever since I became eligible. I have always had help from my mom, who is also my guardian. But this year, Kathia, a supported employment coordinator, sent me a YouTube video about this new way that people with disabilities can vote mostly independently.

When I went to go vote on Tuesday [Election Day], I thought they would have had the electronic version of the voting set up already. But they started out by giving me a paper ballot. They didn’t give me any options of any electronic vote.

My mom brought me to one of the private voting cubbies, and I didn’t see anything in there. So I asked my mom, “Where is the screen?”

An election judge heard me and then said we do have a screen! Would you like to use it? But we had just started filling out the paper ballot when the election judge offered me. But she said it didn’t matter if I wanted to start over.

So I voted using the electronic screen and it made me feel more independent and like I made my own choices.

Here is a video about the OmniBallot Tablet system

Video from the Web version of this publication:

What's new for this year's election- OmniBallot: https://www.youtube.com/embed/cnRERhaR9Uo?feature=oembed

Author

Eva Reed is a Front Desk Associate at the Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota. She is also a member of the Institute's Self Advocacy Action Committee (SAAC).