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News From the Secretary of State's Office: Vermont's New Vote-By-Phone (at the Polls) Voting System

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) required states to implement voting systems that are accessible for individuals with disabilities and permit voters who are blind or visually impaired to cast their votes privately and independently. The vote-by-phone system now available in the State of Vermont allows voters to mark a paper ballot using a regular telephone at the polling place.

How It Works

The voter goes to his or her polling place, checks in at the Entrance Checklist and indicates that he or she wishes to use the vote-by-phone system. A poll worker uses a designated telephone to call the system, enters the poll worker and ballot access IDs to bring up the appropriate ballot, then gives the phone to the voter and leaves the voting booth.

The system reads the ballot to the voter and, after the voter makes ballot selections using the telephone keypad, the system prints out a paper ballot at the office of the Secretary of State. The paper ballot is automatically scanned and can be played back to the voter for verification upon request by the voter. The voter may decide to cast it or discard it and revote.

Preview and Practice Feature

Vermonts vote-by-phone system permits voters to practice voting on the system prior to Election Day. This will make it easier for voters and election workers on Election Day as it will decrease the amount of time voters will require to cast their ballots on Election Day. Prior to the election, voters will be able to use any touchtone telephone to call into the system and to practice voting. This will allow voters to become familiar with the contests and candidates on their actual ballot.

Try It Out

To try out the system and practice voting your ballot:

Call your town clerk to get the ballot access 3 digit # for your voting district, 2006 Guide to Town Clerks.
Then call (866) 486-3838 to listen and practice voting on the same ballot that you will hear and vote on Election Day.
You can call in and practice as many times as you want. Most folks tell us that after using the system 2 or 3 times they can move quickly through all of the candidates and races.

System Security

All phone calls are answered by a computer system located at a secure location controlled by authorized election officials. The computer will only permit access to the system from phone numbers that have been entered into the system prior to the election, and only after the proper poll worker and ballot access ID numbers have been entered.

The vote-by-phone system will be pre-tested before every election to ensure accurate programming. The system makes no use of the Internet or any other data network, so the system cannot be hacked. The only system input comes from DTMF tones, the distinct sounds generated by the telephone when its buttons are pressed.

The vote-by-phone system produces a voter-verified paper ballot for every vote cast and the process can be monitored by observers.

Information on phone balloting at the polling place is taken from Equal Access to Voting In Vermont: Its The Law, published by the Office of the Secretary of State Deborah L. Markowitz. Additional Information is available by visiting their website (www.sec.state.vt.us) or by calling them at 802-828-2363. An audio version of the brochure is also available on request.