Rural Rusk County towns face federal legal challenges over ballot access

RUSK COUNTY (WQOW) - The Townships of Thornapple and Lawrence are nestled in rural Rusk County, and both are in the sights of the U.S. Department of Justice over ballot access.

The issue at hand is electronic voting machines. In a civil complaint filed on September 20, the DOJ alleges both town boards voted to no longer use their machines in 2023. Those decisions may have put the towns at odds with federal voting laws that were signed into law in 2002, which require polling places to have at least one electronic voting system that's accessible for people with disabilities.

These protections are from the Help America Vote Act that ensure people with disabilities can expect the same rights to privacy and independence as other voters at the polls.

So far, Lawrence has settled with the DOJ, avoiding a lawsuit and agreeing to use its voting machine in compliance with federal election laws. Thornapple has not, which means legal proceedings will continue against the town and its officials.



https://www.wqow.com/news/politics-wisconsin/rural-rusk-county-towns-face-federal-legal-challenges-over-ballot-access/article_d5e88b70-7b8d-11ef-85e7-9b773143fd49.html