Justice Department Secures Agreement with Bell County to Ensure Polling Place Access to Voters with Disabilities

AUSTIN, Texas - U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas announced today that the United States has reached a settlement agreement with Bell County to ensure that the county provides accessible polling places to voters with disabilities. The agreement resolves the United States' investigation into Bell County's compliance with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by a state or local government in any of its programs or services.

The United States surveyed 13 of the county's polling places used during the 2023 Uniform Election. The United States observed that polling places contained architectural or equipment barriers that rendered the facilities inaccessible to votes with disabilities, such as a lack of van accessible parking, excessively sloped ramps, excessively sloped portions of parking spaces and protruding objects. In addition, the United States observed a lack of knee and toe clearance to accommodate wheelchairs at the accessible voting machines.

"The right to vote is a foundation of our democracy and must not be diminished or restricted," said U.S. Attorney Esparza. "Under this agreement, eligible voters with disabilities in Bell County will be able to exercise their fundamental right to vote and participate in our democracy. Our office will continue working to ensure that all eligible Americans have access to the ballot, and we commend Bell County for their cooperation throughout the investigation and in this resolution."

Under the settlement agreement the county will engage the technical assistance of an accessibility expert and use an evaluation form for each current and prospective polling place based on ADA architectural standards. The agreement requires the county to either relocate voting to new, accessible facilities, or to use temporary measures such as portable ramps, traffic cones, signs, wedges, and door stops to ensure accessibility on Election Day. In addition, Bell County will train its poll workers and other elections staff on the requirements of the ADA and how to use temporary measures to ensure each polling place is accessible during elections.

For more information about the ADA, please visit www.ada.gov, or call the Department of Justice's toll-free information line at (800) 514-0301 or (800) 514-0383 (TDD). Information about filing a complaint, including instructions for filing a complaint online, can be found at https://www.justice.gov/crt/how-file-complaint.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Liane Noble, Matthew Mueller and Robert Green represented the government in this investigation and resolution.

The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only and there has been no determination of liability.

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