RESOLUTION 2001-4
Voting Rights for the Blind
WHEREAS the right to cast an independent and private vote is a
foundation
of full citizenship in this State and
Country; and
WHEREAS current voting machines and methods currently in use in the
State of
Florida are not accessible to the blind; leaving blind people
dependent on
polling personnel to read, mark, and cast ballots for them; and
WHEREAS voting personnel are largely volunteers and not governed by
the
codes that regulate professional behavior; and
WHEREAS the freedom to independently vote with dignity and privacy has
been
denied to the blind citizens of the State of Florida; and
WHEREAS the technology that will allow blind people to
vote is readily available, and would give blind and visually
impaired citizens full access to read the complete ballot
and to vote with complete independence: Now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind of Florida, in
convention assembled, this second day of September, 2j001, in the city
of
Tampa, Florida, that this organization demand that the Florida
Civil Rights
Commission and the Florida Secretary of State be charged with and urged
to
form written policy statements on this issue, to promote full dignity,
privacy and independence for all Florida citizens.