Election officials in Oregon are giving an “aye” to an iPad scheme that helped disabled voters cast ballots in yesterday’s elections.
Some 89 disabled people were able to have their say in choosing a representative to Congress thanks to Apple’s tablet computer, Politico reports.
One voter was “just so tickled with the iPad he’s committed to coming back in January to mark his ballot,” Secretary of State Kate Brown said.
There were a few minor hiccups, mostly because the iPad voting scheme isn’t paperless and requires Internet connectivity (or more planning ahead.)
Voters still need to print out ballots and mail them in. Another issue was downloading the ballots on the devices so they don’t need Internet connectivity in the state’s rural areas, Brown said.
Officials have a few months to work out the bugs before the next trial Jan. 31. If all goes smoothly, voting via iPad will become available to all Oregonians – possibly from their own devices.
Otherwise, the state will also have to drum up the cash. Right now, they are using Apple loaners to test the program but estimate that it could cost at least $36,000 for the 72 iPads necessary to make the program available to disabled voters.
Via Politico
