BROOKHAVEN, Ga. — A DeKalb County man who is blind told 11Alive he was forced to leave his voting precinct during the May primary election when poll workers could not accommodate his needs.
Brent Reynolds shared his frustrating experience, which included traveling over a dozen miles to another voting location, only to face similar challenges.
11Alive spoke with Reynolds about his ordeal and his call for the county to improve its voting process. While making his way around his apartment complex, he explained his love for independence, despite losing his sight.
"For over 30 years I used a guide dog," Reynolds said. He told 11Alive he was raised in rural Georgia and has been blind since he was a few months old. As he grew up, he said he realized there was work to be done to help the visually impaired. He channels that passion into advocacy and serves as president of the South Metro Chapter of the Georgia Council of the Blind.
"There's always more that can be done," he told 11Alive.
He carries this same attitude when it comes to voting.
"You fill out a ballot in whatever form it is and drop it in the box, and nobody's supposed to see how you vote," Reynolds noted. "Of course, blind people could never do that."
During the May primary, Reynolds told 11Alive he chose to vote at the Dunwoody Library, as it was the most accessible location for him. He explained he traveled to that location on May 14 and that it was a location he had traveled to for years to vote.
However, after receiving a card to insert into the voting machine, he encountered a familiar issue. The audio accessibility feature, designed to aid blind voters, failed to work. The poll workers were unable to resolve the problem and directed him to the DeKalb County Voter Registration & Elections Office on Memorial Drive.
Reynolds and his friend, Sam, who is also blind, traveled 20 minutes to the elections office, only to find that the audio feature did not work there either.
"It's like we don't even count … That's what it feels like," Sam expressed.
After about an hour, both men were eventually able to cast their votes. Reynolds is now advocating for the county to ensure poll workers are better prepared to assist blind voters.
"The experience has to be improved, or there's no sense to vote, really," he stated.
A representative from DeKalb's Voter Registration and Elections Office has since offered to have Reynolds test the machines before the run-off election in June. 11Alive has reached out to the office for confirmation but has not yet received a response.