Two Wisconsin Towns Must Provide Accessible Voting Machines Following DOJ Lawsuit
Following a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Wisconsin towns of Thornapple and Lawrence must equip all polling places with at least one voting machine that is accessible to voters with disabilities during the upcoming election.
In a Sept. 20 complaint, the DOJ alleged that both Rusk County localities fell out of compliance with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) after their town boards decided to stop using electronic voting machines.
Enacted in 2002, HAVA, among many other provisions, requires all polling places used in federal elections to provide at least one accessible voting system to ensure that voters with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in an election. This includes the opportunity to vote in a private and independent manner.
Last week, a federal judge approved an agreement between the DOJ and the town of Lawrence stipulating that each polling place in the town must offer an accessible electronic voting machine for the upcoming Nov. 5, general election and all subsequent federal elections.
And today, the judge entered a preliminary injunction against the town of Thornapple that similarly requires all polling places to make available an electronic voting machine that can be used by voters with disabilities during the November election.
Per the recent consent decree and injunction, election officials in both Lawrence and Thornapple shall receive appropriate training on how to implement and operate accessible voting equipment. DOJ personnel will also be permitted to monitor polling places on Election Day to ensure the towns’ compliance with the court orders.
According to reporting by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the move to ban voting machines in the Rusk County towns came in the wake of visits from a prominent election conspiracy theorist along with discourse in a local newspaper over the issue. Conspiracies surrounding electronic voting machines have proliferated in recent years among right-wing activists and Republicans.
In a press release, Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said that “by failing to offer accessible voting systems, Thornapple and Lawrence shirked their responsibilities under the Help America Vote Act to provide equal access to the ballot for all voters.”
“Our democracy works when voters with disabilities have the right to vote on the same terms as any other voter,” Clarke added.