UPDATE at Noon on Oct. 8, 2024: A primary injunction was filed in a Western Wisconsin federal court to require that the Town of Thornapple meets accessibility standards by providing accessible voting at its polling stations for the November election.
The following comments were issued by Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division:
“This preliminary injunction affirms the right of voters with disabilities to participate on the same terms as every other voter.
“The Help America Vote Act protects that right in every town in Wisconsin, and every jurisdiction across the country, by requiring that every voter has the opportunity to use an accessible voting system.”
To comply, Thornapple officials must improve the accessibility of their ballots, introduce signage alerting those in need of their options, train election officials on the updated system, allow for DOJ monitoring to ensure their compliance and certify that they’ve followed these requirements by October 31st.
WASHINGTON D.C. — The U.S. Department of Justice has filed complaints against 2 northern Wisconsin towns, along with the State of Wisconsin, for not having accessible voting machines at polling places during federal elections.
The complaint against the towns of Thornapple and Lawrence and the State of Wisconsin are for violations of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which requires polling places to be equipped with at least one voting machine that is accessible to voters with disabilities during federal elections.
“Our democracy works when voters with disabilities have the right to vote on the same terms as any other voter,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “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. We must ensure that all Wisconsin towns, and indeed all jurisdictions throughout our country, fulfill their duty to guarantee all voters equal access to the ballot. We commend Lawrence for working with the Justice Department to swiftly remedy this violation by taking simple action to ensure that federal elections are accessible to all eligible voters.”
The complaint alleges that Thornapple and Lawrence violated HAVA by deliberately failing to make accessible voting machines available to voters in certain 2024 federal elections. The department alleges that Thornapple violated Section 301 of HAVA by failing to make available at least one accessible voting machine during Wisconsin’s April 2 and Aug. 13 federal primary elections.
For Lawrence, the complaint alleges that they failed to provide an accessible voting machine during the April federal primary election. Both the town boards of Thornapple and Lawrence voted in 2023 to stop using the accessible voting machines the towns had previously used.
Thornapple has neither revisited nor reversed that decision. The department also secured an agreement with the Town of Lawrence, Wisconsin, to resolve its complaint alleging HAVA violations, reversing its decision on Sept. 9.
“Ensuring equal voting access to all citizens, including those voters with disabilities, is a priority of this office,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea for the Western District of Wisconsin. “We’re pleased that the representatives of the Town of Lawrence agreed to remedy the violations of federal law, and we will continue to work to protect and vindicate the voting rights of voters with disabilities in Wisconsin.”
For its resolution, Lawrence will make an accessible voting machine available at every polling place operated by the town in subsequent federal elections and will train its election and municipal staff on the operation of such equipment.
The complaint also alleges that the State of Wisconsin did not ensure that every polling place within the state was accessible to voters with disabilities, as required by federal law. The Justice Department says litigation against the town of Thornapple and the state will proceed.
