United States v. Los Angeles County

What this case is about

This is a 2024 DOJ settlement with Los Angeles County over accessibility at the County's vote centers — the polling locations LA County uses in lieu of traditional precinct polling places. DOJ found that LA County's vote centers had pervasive accessibility barriers: inaccessible building entrances, lack of accessible parking, voting equipment that wasn't set up for blind voters or voters with mobility disabilities, and inadequate curbside-voting alternatives for voters who couldn't safely enter the building. The settlement requires LA County to audit and remediate physical access barriers at all vote-center facilities; ensure accessible voting machines are deployed and functioning at every vote center; provide curbside voting at every vote center; train poll workers on accessibility obligations; and submit to ongoing DOJ monitoring and election-cycle reporting. The case is in compliance phase. If you're a voter with a disability in LA County and you've encountered barriers at a vote center, you can report it.

Who may qualify

The settlement protects voters with disabilities encountering accessibility barriers at LA County vote centers. You can report a problem if: - You're a registered voter in LA County. - You have any disability — mobility, vision, hearing, cognitive, etc. - You encountered a barrier when voting at an LA County vote center: couldn't enter the building, couldn't access the parking, accessible voting machine wasn't working or wasn't set up, curbside voting wasn't offered or was inadequate, poll workers were unhelpful or untrained. This is LA County-specific. Other California counties have their own obligations.

What helps your case

Documentation: vote-center location, date and time of attempt, specific barrier(s) encountered (physical access, equipment functionality, curbside availability, poll-worker conduct), poll-worker identification where available, any contemporaneous photographs, and records of complaints filed with the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.

How to document what happened

Field documentation: precise vote-center location, time, specific barrier; photographic capture (if non-disruptive to voting); poll-worker identification; explicit on-record requests for accommodations (especially curbside voting); request copies of any incident reports filed by poll workers. Post-encounter: file parallel complaints (DOJ + LA County + state); coordinate with Disability Rights California for systemic pattern documentation.

What if you don’t have documentation?

Reports may proceed without records. Channels: DOJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section; LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk; California Secretary of State (Help America Vote Act administration); Disability Rights California; California Civil Rights Department.

What this case doesn’t cover

Outside scope: other California counties (separate enforcement per county); state-level VRA claims; mail-in/RAVBM accessibility (separate Title II framework, see e.g. Bryant v. Harris County); voter registration; ID requirements; partisan-redistricting claims.

Legal theory

ADA Title II + HAVA

Named defendants

• Los Angeles County

Case facts

Type

Enforcement action

Affected states

CA

Court

U.S. Department of Justice administrative settlement

Filed

2024-08-01

Who to contact

Nobody is running an intake for this one. You can still report what happened.

• Government agency

  U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division

  Takes complaints about inaccessible polling places, ballots and vote-by-mail. Your state or county election office is also required to respond, and is often quicker before an election.

  Phone 800-514-0301

  TTY 833-610-1264

  civilrights.justice.gov/report

  If an election is coming, raise this immediately — the useful window closes when voting does.

  Filing a complaint is not the same as having a lawyer, and it does not pause any legal deadlines. If you may want to bring a case, talk to an attorney about your dates as well as filing.

  Every state has one. They are free, they take intake directly, and unlike a federal agency they can represent you. Find yours

Key dates

Status

Compliance phase; election-cycle reporting ongoing

Settlement

August 2024