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How Michigan’s Voter Assist Terminal Makes Voting Easier
See how the VAT makes voting easier.
Michigan’s Voter Assist Terminal is an assistive voting machine available at every polling place and it’s open to every voter.
Instead of filling out a paper ballot by hand, you make your choices on the terminal. The VAT prints your completed ballot, and you feed it to the same tabulator as everyone else. Private. Independent. Counted the same.
Voter Assist Terminal FAQ:
What is the Voter Assist Terminal?
The Voter Assist Terminal (VAT) is Michigan’s assistive voting machine. It lets you make your voting selections on a screen rather than marking paper by hand. Once you’re done, it prints your completed ballot, and you take it to the tabulator just like every other voter. State and federal law requires a VAT at every polling place and early voting site in the state. It’s standard equipment, not a special accommodation you have to arrange in advance. You can walk in and ask for it on election day.
What the VAT offers.
Michigan’s Voter Assist Terminals are required to meet federal and state accessibility standards. While there are three different VAT suppliers in the state (ES&S, Hart, and Liberty Vote), they all provide the same options to support voters. Here’s what they include:
Audio guidance
Headphones are available for spoken, private instructions through your entire ballot. Every candidate name, every measure, every choice read aloud. No one else can hear it. Audio speed and volume can be adjusted on screen.
Touchscreen
The primary interface is a large touchscreen with big, clearly spaced buttons for each selection. On-screen text is set at a readable default size, and all selections are visually distinct so it’s easy to see exactly what you’ve chosen before you confirm.
Physical tactile keypad
Every VAT also has a physical keypad with raised markings meaning you don’t have to use the touchscreen at all. The keypad lets you navigate the ballot, move between choices, and confirm selections entirely by touch, without looking at the screen.
Visual display adjustments
The screen can be adjusted directly on the terminal to suit your vision needs:
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Text size - increase the size of ballot text significantly, across multiple zoom levels, so choices are easier to read
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High contrast mode - reverses or boosts contrast between text and background (typically white-on-black or black-on-white) for low vision
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Screen brightness - adjust brightness up or down
These visual settings do not affect how your ballot is printed or counted.
Personal adaptive device support
The VAT has a dedicated accessible input port for connecting personal assistive input devices. Supported devices include:
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Sip-and-puff - breath-activated navigation
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Paddle switches and rocker switches
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Foot pedals and other switch-access devices
Bring your own device and plug it in. No advance setup with the polling place is required. Calling your county clerk’s office ahead of time to confirm which VAT model they use can help you prepare your device settings.
Vote at your own pace
There’s no time limit. Review your ballot for as long as you need before printing.
Complete ballot privacy
Your printed ballot comes out and is placed in a secrecy sleeve. No one can see how you voted.
Wheelchair accessible
All VAT stations are required to accommodate wheelchair users, including the ability to vote while seated.
Here’s how voting with the VAT works.
It’s simpler than it sounds. Here’s what happens from the moment you walk in.
1. Check in at your polling place as usual. Sign in at the clerk’s table like any other voter.
2. Tell the poll worker you’d like to vote on the VAT. That’s it. Just ask. You don’t need to give a reason.
3. After a poll worker sets up your ballot, follow the visual and audio prompts. The terminal guides you through every race and measure on your ballot, one at a time.
4. Make your selections using the touchscreen, the controller, or your own personal assistive device.
5. Review your choices and print your ballot. Take all the time you need. When you’re ready, the machine prints your official ballot.
6. Take your printed ballot to the tabulator. Feed it into the same scanner as every other voter. Your vote is in.
The VAT doesn’t change how your vote is counted. Your printed ballot goes through the same tabulator as everyone else’s.
The polls really are open for everyone.
Any Michigan voter can use the VAT in any election. No documentation. No prior arrangement. No explanation required. Poll workers are not permitted to question why you want to use it.
If you have a disability
Whether your disability is visible or not, permanent or episodic, you are entitled to use the VAT at every election, without question.
If you have a temporary need
A broken hand, post-surgery recovery, or any condition that makes marking a paper ballot difficult, the VAT is there for exactly these moments.
If you use assistive technology
The VAT accepts personal adaptive devices, like sip-and-puff, paddle switches, and other tools, so you can vote using the technology you already rely on.
If you simply prefer it
You don’t owe anyone a reason. Any voter may ask to use the VAT.
“No documentation. No prior arrangement. No explanation required. Just ask to use the VAT.”
Your ballot is counted the same as everyone else’s.
Some voters worry that using an accessible machine means their vote is recorded differently. It isn’t.
The VAT prints your choices on a paper ballot. The VAT does not save or keep your selections. Once your ballot is printed, the VAT no longer has a record of your selections.
Your ballot goes through the same tabulator and is counted by the same process as every other ballot at your polling place. Your ballot is secret. Your vote carries exactly the same weight.
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Secret ballot guaranteed
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Paper record retained
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Counted like all others
Questions? Here’s who to call.
Every Michigan polling place is required to have a Voter Assist Terminal. If you encounter any barriers to using one, contact:
Michigan Ombudsperson for Accessible Elections
The state’s official resource for voters with disabilities who run into accessibility barriers at any polling place, clerk’s office, or early voting site.
📞 517-335-2730
Disability Rights Michigan
Provides voting rights education, legal advocacy, and support for Michigan voters with disabilities.
📞 800-288-5923 | TTY: (517) 374-4687
Accessible Electronic Absentee Ballot
If you're a voter who would benefit from the VAT but can't get to the polls, and a standard absentee ballot presents the same barriers as a paper one, Michigan offers an accessible electronic absentee ballot you can complete at home using your own assistive technology. Learn more: https://mvic.sos.state.mi.us/Home/AccessibleVoting/#ballot
Call the Election Protection hotlines for assistance at any time.
For assistance in English, call 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).
Para recibir ayuda en español, llama a 888-VE-Y-VOTA (888-839-8682).
844-YALLA-US (844-925-5287) :للمساعدة باللغة العربية، اتصل على
For assistance in Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog, Urdu or Vietnamese call 888-API-VOTE (888-274-8683).
For additional information or questions, email: questions@michiganvoting.org.