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Wednesday, 05 September 2007 |
Election Board reviewing handicap accessibility at polling sites
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
Auglaize County Elections Board administrators are in the process of checking handicap accessibility at polling places located throughout the county.
“We will be checking all 20 sites to make sure everything there is what we need to have,” Elections Board Director Carolyn Campbell said.
While Campbell said she didn’t expect to find any major problems at the sites, she wanted to check them all and make any improvements necessary to have the county in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Specifically, board officials plan to look at the number of marked handicap parking places based on a formula of the total number of parking spots available.
Board members and staff also plan to review whether or not the places with steps need handicapped-accessible ramps.
“Most places should be pretty good,” Campbell said. “Most of the buildings we use are newer so I don’t think we’ll be looking at too many things to make them compliant.”
State grants could help pay for any updates that do need to be made, to get them ready for state inspections, she said.
The grants should pay for any areas the county Elections Board needs to address.
“The state won’t pay for any permanent fix,” Campbell said. “It has to be stuff that can be taken out on Election Day and brought back in when needed, such as temporary ramps and signs.
She said the only deficiency brought to board officials’s attention by the public so far has been a lack of designated handicapped parking places, especially at the Auglaize County Fairgrounds.
She said despite the large number of general parking spots available there, not many are specifically marked for handicap use.
“This is an important issue to address to ensure that anyone who wants to vote, irregardless of their abilities, is able to access the voting places,” Campbell said.
She said the specific issues they are looking at are addressed in the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which established a program to provide funds to states to replace punch card voting systems and to otherwise provide assistance with the administration of certain federal election laws and programs, to establish minimum election administration standards for states and units of local government.
Campbell asked that anyone who knows of any specific accessibility needs should let her know. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 September 2007 )
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