County Clerk’s office releases video voting aid for deaf community

Sandoval County Clerk Anne Brady-Romero announced Tuesday that her office has created a video in American Sign Language (ASL) with English subtitles as a voting aid for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

“Our goal is to increase confidence in the election process among all of our residents, and one way to do that is to share the steps of casting a ballot,” Brady-Romero said. “This new video demonstrates this in American Sign Language, and as a result, it is another language access tool for Sandoval County, joining Spanish and the Native American languages of DineÍ, Keres, Tiwa and Towa.”

This voting aid is available to view at all county voting centers upon request. Also, posters in every voting center indicate to the deaf and hard of hearing community that they can communicate with poll workers in the method most comfortable to the voter: ASL, pen and paper, lip-reading, verbal and more.

In creating the video, Sandoval County Deputy Chief Clerk Joey Dominguez reached out to the offices of Disability Rights of New Mexico and the New Mexico Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Representatives of both agencies participated in the making of the video.

“Disability Rights New Mexico is excited to announce that the Sandoval County Clerk’s office now offers a video at all polling sites designed to make voting more accessible to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing,” Disability Rights New Mexico said. “Federal law ensures equal access for persons with disabilities, but often communication is not always effective for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. This video not only lays out a process for effective communication, but it educates the public on how equal access can be achieved. We urge all counties to follow suit and make this the standard practice for polling sites across the state.”

Sandoval County has 22 early voting Locations and 40 Election Day locations throughout the county.

“The New Mexico Commission is thrilled to partner with Sandoval County and Disability Rights New Mexico in the creation of this video with both American Sign Language and subtitles,” Nathan Gomme, executive director of New Mexico Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, said. “This is a commitment towards empowering the community with a hearing loss in being able to effectively access our voting locations and we look forward to continued work and partnerships in ensuring this becomes a standard practice throughout the state. We appreciate that commitment to our community from the Sandoval County team.”