US Election Assistance Commission - Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Vote
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Name :   James McCarthy
Organization :   National Federation of the Blind
Post Date :   9/30/2005

Section Comments
Section :  2.2.7.1.3
Page no. :  
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Comment :  The statement at Section 2.2.7.1.3, “When the primary means of voter identification or authentication uses biometric measures that require a voter to possess particular biological characteristics, the voting process shall provide a secondary means that does not depend on those characteristics,” is one that the NFB can fully support.  I am not presently aware of biometric characteristics being used in voting at this time, but can imagine this development in the future to verify the identity of voters.  This is of concern because some blind persons lack irises that are commonly used as a biometric feature.  However, so long as an alternative is required for those that lack a biometric characteristic, the NFB would not oppose use of such characteristics for identity verification.