By MIKE FERGUSON

Baker City Herald

From her office in the Courthouse, Baker County Clerk Tami Green flips a switch. A tabletop slowly rises, elevating a new computer and printer high enough to allow, say, a person in a wheelchair easy voting access.

But that’s just one task the county’s new voting machine can perform.

People with impaired vision can use the new software to magnify an electronic version of the ballot. Or they can use a pair of buttons to make their selections while a computerized voice andquot;readsandquot; the ballot to them. Voters who can’t easily mark a ballot with a pencil can use a joystick or an oversized mouse to make their way through an electronic ballot.

When the user has voted, a printer prepares the ballot, then delivers it into a black plastic privacy box. Then the voter signs the ballot and places it into a familiar blue privacy envelope where the ballot will join the large pile of ballots Green expects during the May 20 primary.

The new computer and printer and another almost identical portable unit that can be set up somewhere else in Baker County, although Green has not decided where are the latest upgrades provided as part of the Help America Vote Act, the landmark 2002 legislation designed to increase voter participation and protect the integrity of elections following the disputed 2000 presidential election.

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The law requires assistive devices for voters who request them.

andquot;I like using it,andquot; Green said of the new machine. andquot;It’s comfortable.andquot;

Green plans to mail ballots Friday, and she will allow anyone who requests it Green anticipates that most will be voters with limited vision to use the new machine.

It’s best to call the clerk’s office, 523-8207, ahead of time to make sure someone’s available to answer questions and provide assistance to voters who need help, Green said.

The clerk’s office is open 8 a.m. through noon and 1 p.m. through 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Election Day May 20 the office will be open until the polls close at 8 p.m. Green also plans to keep 10 a.m. through 3 p.m. hours on Saturday, May 17.

The Intellikey keypad that’s employed in the new computer was designed in part by people with visual or manual impairments. Those who had input in the design gave their ideas directly to the Oregon Elections Division during a vendor fair early in the design process, Green said. The final product reflects their suggestions.

andquot;The Elections Division did an awesome jobandquot; developing the finished product, she said. andquot;They really worked hard to make (voting) an easy process.andquot;

Green expects voters using the new machine to be just about as fast completing their ballots as voters who wield a pencil.

andquot;People who know how to use these assistive devices are very fast with them,andquot; Green said. andquot;They can do in a few minutes what takes me half an hour.andquot;

The new software even reviews the ballot once all the selections have been made to prevent over-voting (marking more than one choice) or under-voting (no choice at all).

Green’s staff has one last chore once the printer has spit out the ballot into the privacy box: an elections worker must duplicate the ballot so that the vote-tallying machine will recognize ballots cast by voters with impairments.

After that, the ballot looks the same as any other ballot, she said.