Some Oregon Residents Can Vote Today With iPads

In the state that first made voting by mail mandatory, now comes this – voting by iPad. During today’s special election, Oregon residents in five countries with disabilities are able to cast their vote using the Apple tablet, according to the Associated Press. Oregon voters will today select a new U.S. representative to replace David Wu, who resigned earlier this year following a sex scandal. For voters with disabilities, this means voting for the first time using an iPad. To do so, voters must visit one of the designated areas such as local parks, nursing homes, and community centers. Here, county election workers will assist voters with filling out their electronic ballets, which are then printed out and mailed. For Lewis Crews, 75, who suffers from arthritis, this new system is impressive.

"It's a lot simpler for me. I think it's a great setup they got," Crews told The Associated Press last week in a phone interview after he filled out and printed one of the first-ever iPad ballots.

While Apple donated to Oregon five iPads for this pilot run, most of the costs were incurred by the state for the software required, which cost $75,000 to develop. Oregon will again offer iPad voting in a special election in January. Assuming these two pilot programs are shown to be successful, the project will go statewide for next year’s presidential election when 72 iPads will be necessary, two for each county.