The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a settlement with Hays County to ensure voters with disabilities can access polling places.
“The right to vote is a cornerstone of our democracy and must not be diminished or restricted,” U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza said in a press release Monday. “People with disabilities are entitled to equal opportunity and full inclusion at the ballot box. Under this agreement, eligible voters with disabilities in Hays County will be able to exercise their fundamental right to vote and participate in our democracy.”
Investigators surveyed 14 polling places in the county in 2023 and noted some buildings didn’t meet all the requirements on the department’s accessibility checklist.
The investigation found several barriers for voters with disabilities, including buildings without van-accessible parking, ramps that were too steep and lacked handrails and outdoor areas with uneven or broken ground. The Department of Justice also found voting booths didn’t have space underneath for wheelchair users to reach the machine.
It was unclear what prompted the investigation. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office Western District of Texas declined to comment.
The Department of Justice has found accessibility issues and reached similar agreements with several Texas counties including one with Bell County, just north of Williamson County.
“It’s an ongoing issue we deal with,” said Molly Broadway, the training and technical support specialist for voting rights with Disability Rights Texas. “Polling sites change for various reasons … so it’s good to get these locations checked on a regular basis.”
Texas has 250 counties, and Broadway said that's a lot of ground to cover for those enforcing accessibility requirements.
“There are some areas in the state that are incredibly rural, and so it’s also about just finding a building,” she said.
Broadway said things can get trickier when private property is used as a voting location.
"By law, churches are not required to be ADA accessible, but if they are going to be involved in an election, then they need to be accessible," she said. “Then it's up to the church to decide, is this something we want to participate in? And if it is, how are we going to fix it? Where are we going to get the money?”
As part of the settlement agreement, Hays County agreed to work with an accessibility expert to make sure all polling places are up to code.
“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,” the Hays County Elections Department said in a statement.
Monday, Oct. 7 is the last day to register to vote in the Nov. 5 general election. Early voting will kick off Oct. 21.
