This past presidential race kept me on the edge of my seat; so needless to say, I couldn't wait to vote on November 4th. This was going to be my first time going to the polls, and I was excited to use the accessible voting machine. Little did I know that not only would I exercise my right to vote, but my thinning patience would also get quite a workout.

On Election Day, my mom and I headed to our town's polling location after a long day at work. Tucked away in my handbag were the notes I had taken at the NFB state convention just a few days earlier regarding who to contact should there be a problem with my town's vote-by-phone machine. Now I gave my little community of Sterling the benefit of the doubt, assuming that everything would be in order and I wouldn't need those notes-well it was a good thing I brought them.

The line of voters moved quickly, and when I reached the check-in desk, I gave the lady my information and mentioned that I wanted to use the vote-by-phone setup. The woman glanced at me, puzzled, before turning to another attendant to ask, "Do we have vote-by-phone?"

The other attendant's delayed reaction and uncertain response concerned me; "I think we have it…" She then referred me to another couple of workers sitting at the opposite end of the room. I headed over to them, hoping that they would have some good news for me. But judging from the previous responses I received, my outlook was growing bleak.

"I would like to use the vote-by-phone system," I said to the man and woman I was directed to.

"The vote-by-phone?" the woman asked, confused.

"Yes, the vote-by-phone," I repeated, getting annoyed.

"Why? Oh, you mean for the hearing impaired?" the man interjected.

Frustrated, I stared at the man in disbelief. I'm not sure if I was more dumbfounded about the fact that he had the nerve to ask me why I needed to use it, or the fact that he thought the audio vote-by-phone system would be useful to the hearing impaired. My mom approached as I tried to communicate the fact that I am legally blind. My mom then chimed in:

"She is visually impaired; it is her legal right to use the vote-by-phone setup. It is required that every polling location in the state have this accessible system up and running!"

The woman reassured the two of us that she would get it handled and after talking to the man, she beckoned us to follow her through the dark hallways of the empty school. She led us inside a tiny room that looked like a storage area and there was the vote-by-phone unit, sitting on a chair.

The woman handed me the phone and entered her access codes, only to get an error message. She assured us that it was working that morning, but nevertheless, I had to hastily fumble through my bag to get those phone numbers I wrote down at the convention.

My mom and I called the first number, and the voice on the other end gave us some new access codes to try. So the poll attendant punched them in, and to our dismay, we received another error message. We called that number back to tell the woman we had no luck with the codes she provided; she then directed us to another phone number. My mom took charge and called the next phone number, explaining the situation and expressing how unorganized and unhelpful the first woman we spoke to was. After some back and forth, they gave us some new codes to try, and thankfully, they were successful.

My mom and the poll attendant stepped out of the tiny room to give me some privacy while I voted. I knelt down on the floor and started the process. I was tired, frustrated and hungry; there was no clock in the room, and I had no idea how long I had been there. It felt like an eternity; frankly, I figured the election probably had already been decided. But nevertheless, I cast my vote, and my mom did as well, using the accessible machine.

We finished and headed back to the entrance. Along the way, the poll attendant apologized for all the inconveniences. I placed my ballot in the box on my way out, and as we proceeded to the door, my mom and I noticed something quite ironic. By the registration desk there was a portable DVD player, and on the screen was Alfonse DeLucia demonstrating how to use accessible voting while the voiceover explained how quick and easy the vote-by-phone system is to use. I sarcastically chuckled and thought, maybe they'll get it right in 2012.

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