On Thursday, August 4, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Harris County, Texas alleging that the county violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide accessible polling places for disabled voters.
The county’s polling places were surveyed in 2013 and 2016, and the DOJ found that many had architectural barriers which rendered them inaccessible to some voters with disabilities. Additionally, polling places failed to accommodate voters with vision-related disabilities.
The lawsuit would require both accessibility improvements and poll worker training on accessibility in Harris County, which includes the city of Houston. Read more about the suit.
If you have had an experience with an inaccessible polling place, you can find directions to file a complaint with the DOJ. If you file a complaint, please also send an email to Jim Dickson, Co-Chair of NCIL’s Voting Rights Subcommittee, at [email protected].
