This year the town of Standish will be better equipped to handle all types of voters thanks to the new voting equipment the town received from the state.

The new equipment including a large button phone, a sound amplifier, and a fax machine, will be used to assist voters that have various impairments currently preventing them from using the traditional system.

Such impairments could include, sight loss, hearing impairment, and trouble with reading or writing.

The new equipment was provided to the town with federal funds allocated through the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The act was introduced after the hanging chad episode in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. The bill mandated that certain programs be put into place to ensure all American voters, including the disabled or impaired, had a fair opportunity to vote.

Voters will need to go to the polling place to use the equipment. Once there they will use the large button phone to call a special voting number. They will then have the ballot questions read to them and select the candidates or referendum answers by pressing the corresponding button.

When the voter is done they will hang up the receiver. Approximately 30 seconds later, a ballot will come through the fax machine with the voters choices already marked. The voter will then bring their ballot to a special ballot box for hand counting after the polls close.

“If we only have a few people signed up for the special equipment, we will make sure that a few of us working the polls also vote. That way we ensure the voters privacy,” said Town Clerk Mary Chapman.

Voters who may be interested in using this equipment should contact Mary Chapman at 642-4678.

Thanks to federal funding provided through the Help America Vote Act of 2002 Standish will have new voting equipment this year. The equipment is designed to help impaired voters.