Barb Smith looks over hte ACCU-Mark machine which allowed her to vote on her own for the first time in 30 years. PHOTO SUBMITTED.
The City of North Bay has made voting for this municipal election more accessible than ever before.
For the advanced polls the city rented an ACCU-Mark machine from Election Systems and Software.
The machine allows disabled residents to vote in a way they may have never been able to do before.
“So what it does is it allows people with disabilities to be able to mark their own ballot,” said City Deputy Clerk Karen McIsaac.
“It has a sniff and puff, it has a rocker panel, it has brail, it has headphones, it has the capability of enlarging the screen and it also has the capability of changing the contrast so it’s a black screen with the white print.”
McIsaac was given the responsibility to learn how to operate the machine and show disabled voters how to use it.
Part of that training included working with Barb Smith from the City's Accessibility Committee.
Barb is legally blind.
McIsaac says her first experience with seeing Smith use the machine was an emotional experience.
“Barb Smith she came to vote at our first advanced poll on a Thursday and she was probably our most touching story because she actually started to cry because it’s the first time in 30 years she has been able to mark her own ballot with her privacy, her independence.”
The machine used at City Hall and three other locations including Place Richelieu, Cassell Arms, and PHARA.
McIsaac says more than a dozen disabled residents used the machine to vote, including 5 quadriplegic and paraplegic residents at PHARA.
The city will see what kind of feedback it receives about the ACCU-Mark machine use in the future.
“We wanted to see what the reaction would be to it so maybe in four years we will make sure that we have enough for the regular polls,” said McIsaac.
