Opening slide
Expanding Participation for Voters with Disabilities 
Future of California Elections
Annual Conference
February 18 & 19, 2015

Gail L. Pellerin, Santa Cruz County Clerk
831-454-2419 / gail.pellerin@santacruzcounty.us

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It’s the Law
Federal Laws
Voting Rights Act of 1965 - Provisions extended for 25 years in July 2006
Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002

State Laws
California Code of Regulations Title 24 - Part of the building code that provides the specific regulations for meeting accessibility laws in California
Election Code §12280. When designating polling places, the elections official shall undertake necessary measures in the locating of polling places to ensure that polling places meet the guidelines promulgated by the Secretary of State for accessibility 
CA Secretary of State Guidelines and Checklist (revised April 2014) http://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/polling-place-accessibility/guidelines/entire-guidelines-april-2014.pdf 

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Best Practices for County Elections Officials
Accessible Polling Places
Access Compliance Plan
Surveying polling sites existing and potential
Polling place How-To binders 
Mitigation measures – temporary thresholds, ramps, cones to create accessible parking places, mats to cover grates, temporary accessible door hardware, signage

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Staffing & Training
Staffing – access program coordinator on staff and/or a private consultant, Election Day rovers to ensure access and compliance with the election laws
Training – language guide, sensitivity training videos, voting equipment training labs for hands on learning

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Tools for Access
Accessibility Tools for Voters and Poll Workers – magnifying glass, easy grip devices, large font election materials, and plain language materials
Audio State Voter Guide and Sample Ballot book – MP3 files and other formats
Accessible Voting – one device that allows voters to vote independently and privately – offer to every voter, set up and ready at all times, audio unit for voters with visual impairments.
Disability Awareness Training for Poll Workers

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Santa Cruz County Stats
Dominion voting system – Optech scanner & AVC Edge at each polling place
DRE = average 8.34% of all votes and 18.31% of poll votes.
Election Date Nov-14		
Registration 142,405
Final Turnout 51.99%	
Total Ballots Cast - Final 70,404		
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 30,296
Final VBM Counted 43,744
Total DRE Votes – qualified 5,372
DRE % of total vote 7.63%
Election Date	Jun-14	
Registration 141,170
Final Turnout	34.83%
Total Ballots Cast - Final	49,143
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 17,961
Final VBM Counted 31,182
Total DRE Votes – qualified 3,879
DRE % of total vote 7.89%
Election Date 	Nov-12	
Registration 158,641
Final Turnout	76.48%
Total Ballots Cast - Final	121,323
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 56,951	
Final VBM Counted 64,372
Total DRE Votes – qualified 8,442
DRE % of total vote	6.96%			
Election Date	Jun-12	
Registration 146,936
Final Turnout	39.83%
Total Ballots Cast - Final	58,526	
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 23,671
Final VBM Counted 34,855
Total DRE Votes – qualified 5,046
DRE % of total vote 8.62%						
Election Date	Nov-10	
Registration 148,500
Final Turnout	66.02%	
Total Ballots Cast - Final	98,037
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 47,636	
Final VBM Counted 50,401	
Total DRE Votes – qualified 7,659	
DRE % of total vote 7.81%					
Election Date	Jun-10	
Registration 146,821
Final Turnout	37.52%	
Total Ballots Cast - Final	55,084	
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 24,047
Final VBM Counted 31,037
Total DRE Votes – qualified 4,696
DRE % of total vote	8.53%					
Election Date	May-09	
Registration 147,099
Final Turnout	33.92%
Total Ballots Cast - Final	49,900	
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 20,586
Final VBM Counted 29,357
Total DRE Votes – qualified 5,060
DRE % of total vote 10.14%		
Election Date	Nov-08	
Registration 148,361
Final Turnout	86.65%	
Total Ballots Cast - Final	128,555
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 68,053
Final VBM Counted 60,502	
Total DRE Votes – qualified 9,754
DRE % of total vote 7.59%				
Election Date	Jun-08	
Registration 139,827
Final Turnout	39.23%
Total Ballots Cast - Final	54,848
Final Precinct Ballots Counted	25,239
Final VBM Counted 29,519	
Total DRE Votes – qualified 6,023
DRE % of total vote 10.98%					
Election Date	Feb-08	
Registration 136,144
Final Turnout 66.94%
Total Ballots Cast - Final	91,133
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 52,700	
Final VBM Counted 38,433	
Total DRE Votes – qualified 9,451
DRE % of total vote 10.37%
Election Date	Nov-06		
Registration 142,428
Final Turnout	64.76%
Total Ballots Cast - Final	92,236
Final Precinct Ballots Counted 50,189	
Final VBM Counted 42,047
Total DRE Votes – qualified 4,831
DRE % of total vote 5.24%				

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It’s all about the outreach!
County Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee
Outreach to residential and care facilities
Voter assistance, including ballot delivery
Participation in county fairs, parades, events to register voters and demonstrate voting system
Speak to groups and organizations
Beginning of school for UC and Community College
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Partner with Groups
In Santa Cruz County we partner with:
Monterey Bay Providers Network
County Disability Commission
Hope Services
Disability Rights California
Center for Independent Living 
Local residential and care facilities
CACEO – Subcommittee on Voters with Specific Needs
Extensive work on Poll Place Accessibility Checklist (PPAC) including:
Automating PPAC data collection and storage 
Clarifying/sharing surveying practices
Fostering PPAC training with SOS
Education on access laws and legal actions that have been taken in relation to those laws
VAAC formation and maintenance
Work with state to foster EAID grant needs and awareness 
Share best practices related to providing accessible services during the voting experience

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Website Accessibility
Website should comply with the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) that provides standards to follow in order to make web content accessible to people with disabilities:
tags for images
labels for non-text content
closed captions for videos 
keyboard accessibility, and 
the ability to change font sizes
 
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State VAAC – A Best Practice
Secretary of State has had a Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee made up of county election officials and disability rights advocates to advise the office on best practices. 
Revised accessibility checklist, guidelines, and training video on how to survey a polling site
Conducted a survey of voters with disabilities to identify barriers to voting so they can be corrected
Advocated for election materials to be in alternate formats resulting in a sign language video Guide to Voting in California
Assisted with making online voter registration and the Secretary of State’s website accessible to persons with various disabilities
Padilla has indicated that he will reinstate this committee under his administration.

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Challenges
Most polling place facilities are not owned by the county. Yet, we must make sure they are compliant with federal and state access laws for the few days we use them during an election cycle. It is VERY difficult to get the owners of the facilities to make permanent changes to remove barriers and make their facilities accessible 365 days a year. 
While we have reduced our barriers at sites, Santa Cruz County does not have a single polling place that is barrier-free without mitigation.
Agencies responsible for determining access compliance often sign off on facilities that do not meet federal and state accessibility standards. 
Once we find an accessible polling place, it is difficult to secure it for every future election, especially special elections called with little advance notice. 
While California law requires school facilities to be made available for voting, due to security concerns, schools are not willing to have their sites used on Tuesdays when school is in session. If space is provided, it may not be ideal and most accessible. 
Some counties still do not have a local Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee.

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More Challenges!
Federal voting system tests have passed through equipment that does not meet the standards and does not address the needs of voters with all types of disabilities. 
Audio units do not meet the needs of voters who need to stop and start the audio unit.
Accessible units were passed without ensuring there was sufficient depth, width, and height to accommodate a person who uses a wheelchair – Santa Cruz County had the vendor retrofit units. We are now using HAVA grant funds to buy separate accessible tables for the units. 
Voting systems are antiquated, equipment is starting to fail, replacement parts are difficult if not impossible to obtain. We have had an especially difficult time with our audio units. It took 2 years for us to find 10 replacement units due to the fact that they are no longer being manufactured.

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Our Work Continues…
“The population of voters with disabilities is large and growing. Issues of voting and accessibility, therefore, are not one for a discrete subset of the population. Rather, they are issues that many, if not most, voters may experience at some point in their lives.” Presidential Commission on Election Administration, January 2014 report

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Resources
SOS – Voters with Disabilities Website http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/voting-resources/voters-disabilities/ 
SOS “Guide to Create a Local VAAC” in 2014 https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/pdfs/guide-create-local-vaac.pdf
Santa Cruz County Poll Worker Accessibility Training Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNmQ-ucTguM 
CACEO Website for members www.caceo58.org 
A Web for Everyone, Designing Accessible User Experiences by Sarah Horton and Whitney Quesenbery
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php