http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060325/OPINION01/603250311/1015
The Journal News
Editorial
March 25, 2006
Westchester's disabled voters and their advocates deserve
all the credit in the world for fighting for, and maybe even getting, improved
access to polling sites in the county.
But as hard as they worked, it will be small satisfaction
since they and all other voters in New York are awaiting another basic voting right.
New York, you see, has the embarrassing distinction of being
the first state in the nation to be sued by the U.S. Justice Department for
failing to comply with a federally mandated overhaul of its election system.
In a nutshell, that means even as Westchester advocates are
forging ahead with their battle to have access to the ballot box, even when they
get there they'll find it's broken.
The lawsuit against New York is the first of its kind under
the federal Help America Vote Act. It came out of the 2000 Florida voting debacle,
which highlighted how unreliable the nation's corroding voting system is.
The federal law requires all states to have electronic
machines up and running for the 2006 elections. New York dragged its feet for years,
putting $49 million earmarked for new machines at risk. The state didn't even
pass legislation to effect improvements at the polls until last summer, earning
another distinction, that of being the last state to do so.
Meanwhile, advocates who sued the Westchester Board of
Elections in 2003 over lack of access for the disabled at polling places are
nearing a satisfactory settlement with defendants. They are expected to be part
of a group that will review polling sites by May 1 every year to identify and correct accessibility
problems. They also are to have their legal bills for the original suit
covered.
Here's hoping they gain the access they're entitled to. To
polling places that someday may comply with federal law.
Copyright 2006 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc.
newspaper serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York.
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