N E W S R E L E A S E

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Richard Struckhoff

September 19, 2005 868-4060

DEMO SLATED FOR ACCESSIBLE VOTING DEVICES

Greene County Clerk Richard Struckhoff is hoping to draw area voters with physical impairments to a demonstration of handicapped-accessible voting equipment tomorrow. Vendors who were recently qualified to sell such equipment in Missouri were invited to demonstrate their products at 1:30 Tuesday afternoon at the Southwest Center for Independent Living, where center patrons can try them out. The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requires an accessible voting device be available at every polling place beginning in 2006 for persons with disabilities, including the blind. HAVA funds provided to each state are expected to pay for the machines.

“We appreciate Southwest Center’s help in putting this demo together and promoting it through their newsletter,” Struckhoff said. Ann Morris, the Director of the Center, is a member of Greene County’s Voting Equipment Advisory Committee. The Southwest Center for Independent Living is located at 2864 S. Nettleton (off West Battlefield between Fort and Kansas). The demonstration is open to the public.

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