Early in-person voting would have to start 10 days later in Nebraska to comply with a federal law that requires special machines to be available for blind voters. Secretary of State John Gale said Monday that he will seek a new law in the upcoming session of the Nebraska Legislature to cut early voting from 35 to 25 days. The change would not affect mail-in or absentee voting. Starting early in-person voting 10 days later would give officials more time to program AutoMark machines, which allow visually impaired voters to cast secret ballots without assistance.
The issue came up when a blind voter from Lincoln learned that the machines were not ready in Lancaster County until nine days after the Oct. 1 start of early voting.
Fatos Floyd filed a formal complaint, arguing the delay violated the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Floyd said Monday that she is concerned that the state’s plan to reduce the number of early voting days will result in a backlash against visually impaired voters.
“I’m kind of disappointed and fairly frustrated,” she said.
Full Article: Early voting change would help blind voters – Omaha.com.