As I browsed through Facebook statuses this afternoon, I saw a new status that appeared to be going viral among people who are blind. It said, “One thing I take pride in is that my vote is private. Have you noticed when you vote, you go into a booth to have privacy while you vote? If you are unable to read then you have to have someone else read it for you, and this means, you take a friend, or two people crowd into the booth with you, a democrat and republican. Now we have accessible voting machines, and when they work, a person can vote using a screen reader and printer that fills in your ballot. I now have the same privacy you do, and I love that, so if you ask me how I vote, I will tell you my voting choices are a private matter because I remember when it wasn’t private for me.”

I was touched by the last few words: “I remember when it wasn’t private for me.” However, my memories were not just memories of a lack of privacy. My memories reminded me that my need for assistance created an annoyance for others and therefore I was not afforded privacy.

I have never had the experience of going into a booth with a Democrat and a Republican so that the integrity of my ballot was protected. At my first voting experience, my ballot was marked in open space in front of everyone. The person was likely responsible for numerous things during that time. She spoke to me harshly and hurried me through the process. The experience colored my attitude toward every election in the twenty years that followed. In some years I did not vote; and in some years I took someone to assist me.

In 2008, I voted and was not informed that there was an accessible voting machine on site until after my ballot was cast. The area was very crowded and was not set up so that people with disabilities were welcome. Wheelchairs could not get through easily. When I went in with my dog guide and someone realized that I needed assistance filling out the ballot, chaos erupted while an out of the way space was found for someone to assist me in filling out a paper ballot. When I handed it in, someone asked, “Why didn’t she use the accessible machine?” Amazed, I wondered that all the confusion could have been avoided if people had only had the same information across the board.

Voting privacy is a matter that affects everyone deeply. While many people with disabilities will always remember what it was like for our votes to not be private, other people do not understand what it is like to have this right denied them or why it matters when their private information is casually broadcast.

Most of the time, the casual broadcast of voting preference is just that, a casual sharing of information. People discuss their voting preferences openly at social gatherings, online, etc. Social networking allows a person to see that certain friends like a particular presidential candidate, deducing their voting preferences. However, people sometimes make relational or even corporate decisions based on someone’s voting preferences. In “Red State Blue State,” commentators on National Public Radio examine the impact of voting pressure on friendships, business relationships, and political relationships. Consequences of not voting in the preferred way include anything from losing certain privileges to losing a friendship to losing a job.

We must restore integrity to our relationships, our voting process, and our businesses. Otherwise, we all participate in the destruction of our society. Voting season is the one season when all of us are quickest to point out flaws in others, to be suspicious of others’ motives. But if we ourselves practice voting pressure, then we must begin by taking the log out of our own eye before attempting any criticism of others.

Vote privately, and treasure your friends. If you have friends who disagree with you, learn to hear their perspectives and consider them well. One day they may be of benefit to you.

Photo by the League of Women Voters, California, via Flickr Creative Commons.