Today’s the first day of early voting here for the 2016 presidential preference primary, and you can bet I’ve already performed my civic duty.
I used to be able to read the ballot and fill out the little circles myself, with no assistance, but those days are gone. Once I could no longer read a ballot without some serious magnification, I chose to fill out my sample ballot at home and have Jason fill out my actual ballot for me from my sample ballot. Not ideal, but it got the job done.
Then I discovered the accessible voting machines.
It’s done electronically; I put my ballot in the machine and the machine marks it for me. There’s a computer monitor that shows all the text on the ballot, and I can make it larger so it’s easier to read. Though, as you’ll see in the picture below, it’s easier to read than the paper version, but by no means easy to read. When the machine spits the ballot back out, I can see what it marked, just to make sure it marked exactly what I selected.
I wanted to post an image of what the ballot itself looked like, but since Florida voting is weird it would indicate what party I joined, out of necessity, upon moving to Florida, and I’d rather keep that info to myself! Instead, you get to see the instruction screen.
It’s simple and fast. The accessible machine has always been open when I show up to vote, and I’m usually done before Jason is since it fills in the circles so quickly. Not to mention early voting is awesome because hardly anyone ever goes to our nearest early voting location.
I also have the option to vote by mail, which sounds convenient, but I like seeing my ballot go into that secure-looking machine. Not to mention they don’t give you an awesome sticker when you vote by mail!
