Wisconsin Town Voting Machine Accessibility Challenge

Lawsuit filed by U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against the towns of Thornapple and Lawrence, town officials and the state of Wisconsin challenging the towns’ decisions to ban the use of electronic voting machines for federal elections. In January 2023, the Town Board of Lawrence voted to stop using electronic voting machines and switch to paper ballots. The Town Board of Thornapple reached a similar decision in June 2023. Subsequently, both towns did not use voting machines for the April 2024 federal primary election. 

The DOJ argues that both towns violated Section 301 of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) by failing to provide at least one voting machine that is accessible to voters with disabilities during a federal election. The DOJ is seeking a court order requiring both towns to provide at least one accessible voting machine in every polling place during the Nov. 5, 2024 election. 

The DOJ reached an agreement with the town of Lawrence to provide at least one accessible voting machine in every polling location for future federal elections, which the court approved on Sept. 27.

On Oct. 4, the court granted the DOJ’s request for a a preliminary injunction against the the town of Thornapple.

STATUS: Under the current court orders, both the towns of Lawrence and Thornapple must have HAVA-compliant electronic voting machines that are accessible to voters with disabilities for the upcoming Nov. 5, 2024 election and future elections.

On Oct. 25, the town of Thornapple appealed the preliminary injunction requiring it to implement an accessible voting machine to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Last updated: January 3, 2025 12:23 pm EST