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ActivePattern of practice

Polling place and ballot inaccessibility (general)

Inaccessible polling place, broken accessible voting machine, no curbside option, or inaccessible vote-by-mail. For cases not already covered by Bryant v. Harris County or DOJ v. LA County.

Reading level
Plain language + legal text

What this case is about

Voting access for people with disabilities is one of the most active areas of federal civil-rights enforcement. Federal law requires physical access to polling places (ADA Title II + ADA Standards); at least one accessible voting machine per polling place (HAVA); curbside voting for voters who can't safely enter; accessible mail-in or absentee ballots where mail voting is offered; and poll worker training on disability access. Despite these requirements, barriers remain widespread: polling places at inaccessible churches, schools, or community centers; accessible voting machines that aren't deployed, set up, or functional; poll workers unfamiliar with the equipment; curbside voting refused or unstaffed; paper-only mail ballots requiring sighted assistance for blind voters; and audio-ballot equipment that's broken or set up in conspicuous locations destroying ballot privacy. For specific jurisdictions with active matters, see Bryant v. Harris County (TX), DOJ v. LA County, and the DOJ investigation of Alaska Division of Elections. For voting problems in OTHER jurisdictions, this listing covers your reporting options. Where to report: DOJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section at ADA.gov or voting.section@usdoj.gov; your state Secretary of State; your state Protection & Advocacy; your state attorney general; and the Election Protection coalition (866-OUR-VOTE).

Who may qualify

You can report a problem if: - You're a registered voter (or eligible-but-not-registered voter) in any US state. - You have a disability — mobility, vision, hearing, cognitive, or other. - You encountered a voting-access barrier: polling place wasn't accessible, voting equipment didn't work, curbside refused, mail ballot inaccessible, etc. Coverage extends to general, primary, special, municipal, and tribal elections, and voter registration access.

What helps your case

Documentation: polling-place identification or mail-ballot election identification; election date; specific barrier (physical access per ADA Standards, equipment availability/functionality, curbside provision, ballot-format accessibility); poll-worker/election-staff identification; explicit accommodation requests and responses; contemporaneous photographic evidence where non-disruptive to voting.

How to document what happened

Real-time: Election Protection coalition (1-866-OUR-VOTE) for on-day intervention. Polling-place: poll-worker identification, photographic capture where non-disruptive, explicit accommodation request and response documentation, contemporaneous narrative. Post-election: parallel administrative complaints (DOJ + SOS + P&A); coordinate with disability-rights counsel for systemic pattern documentation if multiple incidents in jurisdiction.

What if you don’t have documentation?

Reports may proceed without records. Channels: DOJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section (substantively responsive on voting-access claims); state Secretary of State (HAVA administrative complaint); state P&A (voting-access advocacy capacity); Election Protection (1-866-OUR-VOTE for real-time and post-election support); state AG civil-rights; private Title II / § 1983 counsel.

What this case doesn’t cover

Outside scope: voter-ID requirements (VRA + § 2 framework); voter-list maintenance under NVRA; polling-place closures (VRA + § 5 considerations for covered jurisdictions); election-integrity non-disability claims; specific active jurisdictions with their own listed cases (Bryant v. Harris County, DOJ v. LA County, Alaska investigation).

ADA Title II + HAVA + Section 504

Case facts

Type
Pattern of practice
Affected states
Nationwide

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
Active continuous enforcement
ADA enacted
1990
HAVA enacted
2002
2010 ADA Standards for polling places
2010
DOJ Title II web rule (affects online voter services)
April 2024