It was like Christmas in April when Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate provided all 99 Iowa county elections office with computer tablets. But these weren’t your average tablet, each of the Acer Tablets included the ADA Checklist for Polling Places Program to help elections officials determine if their voting sites (1,681 statewide) are compliant with the American Disabilities Act. The checklist provides guidance to election officials to determine whether a polling place has the basic accessibility features needed by voters with disabilities, or can be made accessible on Election Day. Features of the app include the ability to take photos of polling place structures, and providing guidance for making temporary accommodations. Additionally, it helps counties with polling place layout, reports, and tracking supply needs for individual polling places. While the state could have just provided the app to each county, an important part of the program was also providing the tablets.
“The tablets are an important part of the package,” said Secretary of State Paul Pate. “They enable auditors to take them to potential polling sites and take pictures with the device. Not every county auditor would already have a device like a tablet to utilize with the app, so it was important to make sure every auditor had one.”
The tablets were paid for with funds from a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Election Assistance to Individuals with Disabilities grant.
The ADA app was originally designed by the IT staff in Franklin County, Ohio board of elections which received a Professional Practices award from The Election Center in 2015.
Full Article: electionlineWeekly.