Travis County Clerk’s Office, Polling Place Access Violations, Texas 2023

Grimy Times has learned that the Travis County Clerk’s Office in Austin, Texas has agreed to ensure polling place access for voters with disabilities after a investigation by U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff.

According to the agreement, all polling places surveyed by the U.S. Attorney’s office during the 2020 Primary Election contained architectural or equipment barriers for voters with disabilities, including a lack of van accessible parking, excessively sloped ramps, excessively sloped routes to the entrance, and protruding objects.

The accessible voting machines lacked knee and toe clearance to accommodate wheelchairs and lacked the same level of privacy afforded to other voters. Polling places also lacked notice or procedures for voters with disabilities to access the county’s curbside voting system in a manner consistent with the ADA.

Under the terms of the agreement, the county will use an evaluation form for each current and prospective polling place based on ADA architectural standards. The county will either relocate voting to new, accessible facilities, or use temporary measures such as portable ramps, signs, traffic cones, and doorbells to ensure accessibility on Election Day.

The county will also train its poll workers and other elections staff on the requirements of the ADA and how to use temporary measures to ensure each polling place is accessible during elections.

Travis County is working collaboratively with the U.S. Attorney’s office to make all polling places accessible and has already taken steps since the 2020 Primary Election to ensure polling place accessibility.

The right to vote is a foundation of our democracy and must not be diminished or restricted by barriers to access at polling sites, said U.S. Attorney Hoff. Under this agreement, eligible voters with disabilities in Travis County will be able to exercise their fundamental right to vote and participate in our democracy.

People interested in finding out more about the ADA or this agreement can call the toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383 (TDD) or access the ADA website at http://www.ada.gov.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

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