Man’amko preview disability-friendly voting machine

Congregates at the Aging Center will now be able to use the new voting machine of the Commonwealth Election Commission when casting their votes in next year’s election.

Executive director Robert A. Guerrero of the Election Commission, Raymond Diaz of the Council on Developmental Disabilities, and Thomas J. Camacho of the Disability Policy & Programs Office were at the center yesterday to conduct a presentation on how to use the automark accessible voting machine.

“The new voting machine is going to be available in the next election,” Diaz told his audience composed of about 60 man’amko and 20 caregivers of the center’s homebound clients.

Diaz said the machine allows voters who have disabilities to cast their votes using any part of their body instead of the traditional way of voting by pen and paper.

He said the machine “comes with several devices that will allow a person with disability to vote.” These include headsets, automated voice instruction, and a touch screen panel.

Diaz said that once votes are cast, the voter will be able to print his own ballot.

He emphasized that the presentation only aims to teach the man’amko how to use the new machine. “We are not here to tell you who to vote for.”

According to Guerrero, another advantage of the machine is that it doesn’t allow voters to cast votes for more than the maximum seats available for an elected position, avoiding the incidence of null and void ballots.

Guerrero said the Election Commission has four of the voting machines—one for each island and one backup machine “should something goes wrong.”

The voting machine on Saipan, Guerrero said, will be positioned at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center in Susupe.

Guerrero said voters will be in a confined area to ensure privacy of the voting process. “When you vote, you vote in confidentiality,” he added.

Guerrero noted that voters who have disabilities or any kind of impairment should contact the Election Commission so they can make arrangements to transport them to the polling place.

He said similar presentations have already been conducted for the man’amko on Tinian and Rota.

Aging Office director Rose Mondala said the presentation is beneficial for the man’amko. “This is really good. It’s about time we have something like this for the man’amko.”

She said this is the same reason why she also invited caregivers of homebound man’amko to attend the presentation. “I want them to come here to learn the new voting process,” she added.