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Historical Perspective
For most of the 20th Century the only provision in Wisconsin election law for a voter with disabilities was the opportunity to cast a ballot at the door with the assistance of two election inspectors (a practice sometimes referred to as curbside voting). In 1985 all polling places were required to have at least one wheelchair accessible entrance and by 1992 all polling places were required to be fully accessible to the elderly, individuals in wheelchairs, and voters with disabilities. If a municipality planned to use a polling place that was not fully accessible, municipal clerks were permitted to file a report with the State Elections Board and to reassign voters with disabilities to an accessible polling place elsewhere in the municipality. However, with the passage of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), all this has changed in the direction of requiring full accessibility.
Under terms of HAVA, Section 301, the voting system used for federal offices must permit all voters to vote privately and independently. With the passage of 2003 Wisconsin Act 265, which incorporated sections of HAVA into state law, municipalities are no longer permitted to use polling places that are not fully accessible, and municipal clerks are required to make reasonable efforts to comply with requests for voting accommodations made by individuals with disabilities. This means that all polling places must be accessible, and every polling place must be equipped with an accessible component of voting equipment by the date of the September 2006 primary election.
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