HAYS COUNTY, Texas — Following an investigation into 2023 polling places, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and Hays County have reached a settlement agreement to ensure the county's voting locations are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The DOJ said Monday that its investigators surveyed the 14 polling places Hays County used during last year's election and found that they had barriers that rendered them inaccessible to voters with disabilities.
Those barriers included excessively sloped ramps, including some without handrails and edge protection; a lack of van-accessible parking; numerous gaps and level changes along exterior routes; protruding objects; and excessively sloped portions of parking spaces, access aisles and exterior routes to the entrance. The investigators also documented a lack of knee and toe clearance in the accessible voting machines and at other voting stations at some locations.
Under the settlement agreement, the DOJ said Hays County will work with an accessibility expert and use an evaluation form for each current and prospective polling place, based on ADA architectural standards. The agreement requires Hays County to make polling places accessible through a variety of measures and also requires the county to train its poll workers and other election staff on ADA requirements and how to use temporary measures to make sure every polling place is accessible during elections.
Hays County shared the following statement in response to the settlement:
"Hays County goes to great lengths to ensure that its polling places are accessible to voters with disabilities. Hays County, like other Texas counties, is proud to partner with the Department of Justice to ensure that the County's polling places are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Among other things, Hays County is expanding training for poll workers, consulting with a third-party expert to proactively evaluate the accessibility of each of the County's polling places and implementing additional measures to increase accessibility in polling places, as well as remaining focused on the County’s availability of curbside voting."
To learn more about the ADA, you can visit www.ADA.gov or call the DOJ's toll-free information line at 800-514-0301 or 800-514-0383. To learn more about filing a complaint, click here.
