MADISON, Wis. – A recent report from the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) found fewer barriers for elderly and disabled voters at polling places compared to a 2023 review.
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 2024-2025 election cycle, the WEC reviewed 477 randomly selected polling places across 299 municipalities in 42 counties. The average number of non-compliant findings per polling place was 5.2, down from 5.6 in 2023.
The survey, conducted in compliance with the 2010 Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design, includes reviewing ramps, doorway widths, and adherence to election laws, such as posting required notices and providing accessible voting equipment.
Each non-compliant finding is assigned a severity level based on 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 2024-2025 median non-compliance score was 11, the same as in 2022-2023.
The report found 12 polling places with zero non-compliance issues —a perfect score. Those include:
Saint Elizabeth Seton Church, Green Bay
UW-Student Union, La Crosse
Center Town Hall, Town of Center
East Troy Town Hall, East Troy
Hill Town Hall, Town of Hill
Mountain Community Center, Town of Mountain
Oneida Town Hall, Oneida
Pepin Sportsman’s Club, Pepin
Riverview Community Center, Riverview
Rock Town Hall, Town of Rock
Grace Church, Caledonia
Pleasant Prairie Village Hall Auditorium, Pleasant Prairie
The highest level of non-compliance, reflecting the most issues, was a score of 40.
Reviewers made unannounced visits to polling places during the 2024 Spring Primary, Spring Election, Partisan Primary, and General Election as well as the 2025 Spring Primary, Spring Election, and Racine County Executive Special Primary and Election in November and December of 2024.
This marked the second election cycle to use a non-compliance score to rate polling places.
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 encourage municipalities to continually improve the accessibility of their polling places and voting practices for the 2026-2027 election cycle and beyond.
A link to the full report, including a list of municipalities that participated, can be found here.
