Clinton Township Deploys Blind Election Worker Who Can Stand At The Tabulator
Ron DeMitchell, blind since birth, is the first election worker of his kind hired by the township, and election protocol lets him approach the ballot machine where others cannot.
By Anthony Lawson ·
Clinton Township has hired an election worker who can stand at the ballot tabulator because he is blind.
Ron DeMitchell, who has been blind since birth, started the role four days ago. Election protocol requires poll workers to stay outside a 10-foot barrier around the tabulator, but the rule carries an exception for blind election workers, who may be permitted to approach the machine to assist voters. DeMitchell uses that exception to stand beside voters as they insert ballots. "My role is to make sure that all the votes count, so I'm working the tabulator," DeMitchell said. The township hired him as its first election worker who is blind.
Clerk Kim Meltzer met DeMitchell at the Clinton Township library for the blind and said she saw the fit immediately. "I have seen election after election the frustration that voters have when they get to the tabulator and they don't know how to put that ballot into the tabulator," Meltzer said. "I thought right away, Ron would not have to abide by that 10-foot barrier because he is 100% blind. He cannot see." DeMitchell came to the township through New Horizons, a nonprofit that provides job training and placement for people with disabilities. Larry Thouin, a social worker with New Horizons who has worked alongside DeMitchell for the past few years, said the transfer to the polling place was quick. "He's picked it up real quick, and now he's kind of on his own. He navigates the building real well. I just stand back. As soon as he hears a voter get up and go to the machine, he's right there to greet them," Thouin said. Thouin said voters have responded to DeMitchell at the polls: "We've had plenty of voters come by and be like, 'This is awesome.' It's a really cool opportunity."
DeMitchell said his work carries a message beyond the polling place: "People with all kinds of disabilities deserve an opportunity to work." Meltzer said the township wants to build on what DeMitchell started and reach out to people with disabilities. "We want to reach out to people with disabilities because sometimes they are overlooked. And people think, 'Oh, if you have a disability, you can't do a job.' And that's just not true. They can, and they are a huge asset to our democracy," Meltzer said. DeMitchell's own instruction to voters is direct: "Get out and vote. Your vote does count." He is working the tabulator at the polls now.
Meltzer said she hopes the role becomes a model for other communities, and DeMitchell continues to assist voters at the machine in Clinton Township.
