From: Al and Masha Sten-Clanton 
Subject: Re: Readers and privacy
Hi, Denise.  Thanks for bringing up the issue of readers and privacy.  It
should provoke some good discussion.
Whether we like it or not, the simple fact is that using a reader is not
as private as being able to conduct your own business without using one.
As long as I have to tell even one person how I'm voting, it is not truly
a secret ballot in the way that it is for those who have the option of
complete secrecy.  Of course, many people do engage in post-election
discussions in which they might tell someone how they voted.  The
difference is that sighted voters have always had the option of complete
secrecy, whereas blind people have always had to tell at least one person
their choices.
This doesn't mean that we ought to moan and groan about having to use
readers when we do need to use them.  For the foreseeable future, live
readers are a part of most blind people's daily lives.  We can attain a
high degree of privacy by finding disinterested readers who are not part
of our regular circle of acquaintance.  When we passed our voting rights
legislation, the solution of being able to choose one's own reader in the
ballot box was not only better than what we'd had before, but was the best
solution possible at the time.  
However, I think it's important to remember the difference between "best
possible" and "ideal".  In this context, absolute equality with the
sighted would mean a completely secret ballot for the blind.
Technological means are now becoming available to make this possible.  At
present they're still pretty clunky, but they have the potential to evolve
into an ideal solution, rather than simply a "best we can hope for" one. I
hope that our attachment to a hard-won victory in the past won't prevent
us from pursuing the goal of a truly secret ballot.  I do agree that, as
long as these systems remain a s relatively inefficient as they still are,
we ought to protect the right to use a live reader instead.  But the
enthusiasm of many people for accessible voting indicates that this
solution is not satisfactory to many people when complete privacy is an
option.
For me personally, the idea of choosing my own reader to help me vote
doesn't add very much.  If someone has to know how I'm voting, I'd just as
soon have it be a poll worker, who doesn't know me, as a regular reader
who does.  I'm only glad that I'm no longer living with family members who
might take offence at my choice to have someone other than them do it.
What I really want is a completely secret ballot.  Anything less than that
is a compromise, even if, until now, it's been a necessary one. 
Masha
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