Lyle swore and I swore but we did our civic
duty! Now we will await the outcome. No, we weren’t uttering profanities but
rather going through the convoluted process of voting as a print disabled
person on Election Day.
Today’s voting procedure had certainly
changed since the last time I voted. I think that then I merely needed to show
my CNIB identity card and Lyle was permitted to fill in the box for me. It was easy. Today was a different story.
First, Lyle had to fill out a form stating
who he was. Secondly, he had to fill out another form saying that he was sworn
to secrecy and would never reveal which party had my vote. When he had filled in the blanks on this form,
he had to read it aloud and swear on the Bible that his statements were true. Lyle
didn’t actually have to put his hand on the Bible when he took the oath, but
the official held a book which he said was the Bible. Thirdly, Lyle had to fill
in yet another form stating that as my friend, he would fill in the ballot as I
directed him. This also needed to be read aloud and affirmed with an oath.
Then it was my turn. Lyle filled in my form
for me which basically stated that I was physically unable to see the print on
the ballot form. This was read to me and I had my turn of swearing the truth of
the statement with a solemn oath.
Finally I was permitted to vote. I was
given a template – which didn’t really help. I had originally intended to mark
my own “X” but by this time I was mildly confused and so I just asked Lyle to
mark the ballot form for me. Of course, it is somewhat easier in that we do
discuss our political allegiance ahead of time. Sometimes we differ with this
but I am quite sure that Lyle marks my ballot as I direct him to.
Now we will wait to see the official outcome
of Election Day. I am also wondering if other print disabled people had the
same experience as I did today.
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