AUSTIN, Texas — Students at the University of Texas at Austin will not be able to cast their ballots at the university’s main central library this year as they have done in the past because the location does not meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements.
According to comment at the Travis County Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday, the Perry-Castañeda Library (PCL) currently does not meet ADA requirements for a voting location. The Travis County Clerk’s Office works with the U.S. Department of Justice to make sure all voting locations are ADA compliant.
The DOJ recently found that more than 50 polling places in the county did not meet ADA compliance. It surveyed more than 50 polling places used in Travis County for the 2020 primary election and concluded that all of them contained architectural or equipment barriers for voters with disabilities.
A new voting location has opened at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, which is located farther east on campus.
But UT undergrad and member of student government Elise De La Fuente told commissioners she believes it will be difficult for students to walk to LBJ, which will impact the number of people voting at the UT Flawn Academic Center (FAC) on campus.
“A lot of students on campus are first-time voters,” she said. “They don't really know how to vote or what to do. So, by complicating the situation, by only putting one major polling site in their vicinity, which is the FAC, makes it incredibly difficult and just further complicates the issue for many students that don't know how to vote.”
De La Fuente said she would like to have another voting location on campus, such as at Gregory Gym, or more polling booths at FAC.
In response, Travis County Judge Andy Brown directed the clerk’s office to take steps necessary to add poling machines at the FAC and put signage at the PCL letting people know they can’t vote there this year. The goal is to get 18 machines at the FAC, which would equal the number of polling machines at the FAC and the PCL during the 2018 election.
Travis County Clerk Rebecca Guerrero said additional machines have already been added to UT, with 15 at the FAC and 12 at LBJ. On Election Day, the Texas Hillel Foundation, one block west of campus, will have nine machines.
For a map and list of voting locations, visit the Travis County Clerk’s website.
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