BOSTON (AP) -- Massachusetts will fall far short of the number of voting machines for the disabled mandated by a federal law on Election Day, largely because of the differing needs of the physically impaired, the secretary of state said.
Secretary William Galvin said at least two-thirds of the state's 1,700 polling places won't have voting machines that are accessible and provide privacy for disabled voters on Nov. 7, even though the 2002 Help America Vote Act requires them in every polling place this year.
"The biggest problem we're confronting is that it's not one size fits all," Galvin said. "We've discovered, and I think other states have, too, that different disabilities present different problems."
Voting machines for the disabled will be available in 28 municipalities out of the state's 351 cities and towns - including Boston, Lowell and Springfield. The machines will be available in about 440 of the state's polling places.
At least one advocate for the disabled expressed disappointment in the news.
"We've been looking at machines for two to four years, not two to four months," Brian Charlson, vice president of computer training services at the Carroll Center for the Blind, told The Boston Globe. "If he (Galvin) really intended to meet the Nov. 7 deadline, he should have set himself a deadline long enough ago to put in an order with some expectation that they could be filled.
Galvin and his staff said he has worked for about two years with state offices and advocacy groups to meet the requirements of the 2002 act, enacted after voting irregularities in the 2000 presidential election.
"We'll get to the federal requirement, but we'll do it in a way that makes sure this isn't a bureaucratic exercise," Galvin said.
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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe
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