Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Against Town of Thornapple, Wisconsin, Requiring Use of Accessible Voting System during November Election

The Justice Department announced today that a federal court in the Western District of Wisconsin has entered a preliminary injunction requiring the Town of Thornapple, Wisconsin, to comply with federal law by offering an accessible voting system at each of its polling places during the Nov. 5 federal general election.

“This preliminary injunction affirms the right of voters with disabilities to participate on the same terms as every other voter,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Help America Vote Act protects that right in every town in Wisconsin, and every jurisdiction across the country, by requiring that every voter has the opportunity to use an accessible voting system.”

The United States filed a complaint on Sept. 20 alleging that the Town of Thornapple, among other defendants, had violated Section 301 of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by failing to provide voting systems that allowed voters with disabilities to participate in the same private and independent manner as other voters during Wisconsin’s April and August federal primary elections. The preliminary injunction requires Thornapple to comply with Section 301 of HAVA by making available an accessible system during the Nov. 5 federal general election. The injunction also requires Thornapple to prominently post signage alerting voters that an accessible system is available for use, to train election officials on the use of that system, to certify to the court by Oct. 31 that its accessible system is ready for use in the November general election and to allow Justice Department personnel to monitor compliance with the terms of the injunction.

Congress passed HAVA in 2002 in part to make in-person voting more accessible for voters with disabilities. Among other things, Section 301 of HAVA requires that each polling place used for federal elections provide at least one voting system that provides voters with disabilities the same opportunity for access and participation as other voters are provided, including the same opportunity to cast ballots privately and independently.

More information about voting and elections, including guidance documents and other resources, is available at www.justice.gov/voting. Learn more about HAVA and other federal voting laws at www.justice.gov/crt/voting-section. Complaints about possible violations of federal voting rights laws can be submitted at civilrights.justice.gov or by telephone at 1-800-253-3931.