MADISON, Wis. – A recent Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) report found fewer barriers in polling places for elderly voters and voters with disabilities when compared with a similar 2021 report.
Under Wis. Stat. 5.25(4)(d) the WEC is required to submit a report to the Legislature regarding voting barriers faced by the elderly and voters with disabilities. The report is due no later than June 30 in odd-numbered years.
For the 2022-2023 election cycle, the WEC reviewed over 500 randomly selected polling places across 379 municipalities in 47 counties. The average number of non-compliant findings per polling place was 5.6, down from 7.0 in 2020.
Reviewers made unannounced visits to polling places during the 2022 Spring Primary, Spring Election, Partisan Primary, and General Election as well as the 2023 Spring Primary, Spring Election, and Milwaukee County Supervisory District 14 Special Election.
The survey that reviewers complete for each polling place addresses compliance with the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design, such as ramps and doorway widths as well as compliance with election laws like the requirements for particular notices and accessible voting equipment.
The Commissioners directed staff to provide a list of the 50 most compliant polling places. This prompted the creation of a compliance score. Each non-compliant finding is assigned a severity level based on the severity of the barrier: one for low, two for medium, three for high. The totals for each category were multiplied by the severity number and added together.
The WEC found 23 polling places with a perfect score of zero. The highest non-compliance score was 44.
Municipalities can remedy many non-compliant findings by using products from the WEC’s Accessibility Supply Program. The agency provides – free of charge – supplies such as accessible parking signs, signature guides, and wireless doorbells.
The WEC’s goal is to help municipalities become as complaint as possible and to improve scores for the 2024-2025 election cycle.
