Portable voting booths have been developed which utilize punch-out type balloting devices as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,620,587; 3,806,219; and 4,445,731. Such portable booths are generally stored in a case similar to a metal suitcase. When opened and assembled, a lower portion of the case forms a table-like platform to support the voting device and has built-in socket receptacles to receive the upper ends of supporting legs. Fold-up shielding sections are also attached to the lower case portion to provde voter privacy. Vote recording devices are secured inside the bottom section of the case in various ways in the prior art and lamps are provided to facilitate the voting process.
Handicapped people, however, may not be able to utilize such portable voting booths due both to the spacing and height of the supporting legs. The portable voting booth as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,731, for example, has supporting legs about eighteen (18) inches apart and about forty-two (42) inches high. Such a voting booth neither meets Federal requirements for use by handicapped persons nor will it accommodate a conventional wheelchair, because the spacing of the supporting legs is too narrow. It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide an adapter device which widens the space between the front support legs of a portable voting booth thereby enabling a handicapped person in a wheelchair to wheel into and beneath the voting surface of a self-contained portable voting booth.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an adapter device for portable voting booths which eliminates the need to obtain new voting booths with wider support bases.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an adapter device for portable voting booths which eliminates the need for various size voting booths which could neither be stacked nor stored in the same space.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an adapter device for portable voting booths that prohibits flexing of the support legs.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an adapter device which is made of a lightweight, strong material that lends itself to ease and ecomony of manufacture.