SUMNER – Voters heading to polling places this Election Day will see some new equipment in use aimed at making voting easier and more accessible for all Mainers.

Thanks to the Help America Vote Act, a federal law, polling places statewide will now be equipped with a Vote By Phone system that was paid for by a $1.5 million grant from the federal government, Maine’s Deputy Secretary of State Doug Dunbar said Friday. This is the first election in Maine that the equipment will be put in widescale use, Dunbar said.

Having accessible voting is now a requirement under both state and federal laws, and local election officials and town clerks such as Susan Runes are working to make that happen.

Between 10 percent and 15 percent of all Mainers have some kind of disability that can make it difficult for them to vote.

“There’s probably no system that will help all of them,” Dunbar said in an e-mailed message. “But the one being used in Maine will assist a great many, including people with visual impairments and certain motor skill problems, as well as those suffering from arthritis or other conditions that make it difficult to hold a pencil and mark a ballot.”

Runes recently took training in Farmington from a representative of the secretary of state on how to implement the new system.

The system is simple and easy to use for voters, according to instructions from the manual.

“The voter goes to the polling place and checks in as usual,” the manual reads. “A poll worker escorts the voter to a designated telelphone where the poll worker dials into the system, enters a password and a ballot access number. The worker then hands the phone to the voter and leaves the voting booth to allow the voter to vote privately and independently.”

The voter is able to navigate the ballot by pressing numbers on the phones key pad.

After the voter selects their choices by using the number keypad, the system faxes the ballot back to the voter. A sighted voter verifies the faxed paper ballot. A voter who is blind or visually impaired verifies the ballot via voice. The voter then puts the ballot in the ballot box.

It may take up to 15 minutes for those using the system for the first time because of the time it takes to listen to instructions.

But even if the voter selects the wrong box, they can go back to anyplace on the ballot until it is printed. After it is printed, they have up to three tries to revote if the printed ballot doesn’t match the choices they wanted to make.

Runes and clerks around the state have also been getting absentee ballots to anyone in their towns who needs one but is unable to make it to the polling places.

Regional Editor Scott Thistle contributed to this report.