SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND BLAIR COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Accessible polling places are and shall be the cornerstone of the County’s voting accessibility program.  The County has an obligation to provide an accessible voting program under the ADA, including a program that is accessible to persons who use wheelchairs and persons who are blind or have other vision disabilities.  42 U.S.C. §12132.

For all elections beginning with the November 2014 election, the County will implement the recommendations set forth in Paragraphs 25 and 26, to ensure that each and every polling place location is permanently or temporarily accessible on Election Day, and will relocate inaccessible locations to an alternative accessible location pursuant to the process established by Paragraphs 17 and 18 of this Agreement.

The County shall maintain in operable working condition on Election Day those features of facilities and equipment (including, but not limited to, both permanent equipment such as lifts and elevators and temporary equipment such as portable ramps, traffic cones, wedges, and door stops) that are required to make polling places accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities. 28 C.F.R. § 35.133(a).  If circumstances arise such that a polling place location that was previously accessible is no longer accessible because a feature of the facility or equipment is no longer operable, then the County shall relocate the polling place to an alternative, accessible location in accordance with Paragraphs 17 and 18 of this Agreement.

Beginning with the November 2014 election and for the duration of this Agreement, the County will ensure that at each polling place location with off-street parking, at least one van-accessible parking space will be provided temporarily on Election Day, through the use of traffic cones and appropriate signage, or in some other equally effective manner. 

For the duration of this Agreement, the County will advertise and publish through the County website and other appropriate local media, the polling place locations that are accessible to voters with disabilities.  Within six (6) months of the effective date of this Agreement, the County’s website must comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 level AA, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), available at www.w3.org/TR/WCAG. [sic]

The County will cooperate fully with the Department’s efforts to monitor compliance with this Agreement, including but not limited to, providing the Department with timely access to polling places (including on Election Day), maps, surveys, and other requested information.  

The County agrees that the following temporary measures are reasonable and will be implemented where necessary to make an otherwise inaccessible polling place temporarily accessible on Election Day.  The list of measures is not exhaustive; the Parties may agree to implement other, reasonable temporary measures. 

1. Portable ramps (including curb ramps) up to and including ramps six feet long, with side edge protection.

2. Portable wedges or wedge ramps.

3. Floor mats.

4. Traffic Cones.

5. Relocating furniture or other moveable barriers.

6. Door stops.

7. Propping open doors.

8. Unlocking doors.

9. Signage, including parking signage.

10. Portable buzzers or door bells.

11. Removing astragals in doorways that are not a permanent part of the structure.

Prior to each election during the term of this Agreement, the County will provide training to Highway Department personnel on how to implement the temporary remedies (e.g., how to install ramps, the placement of mats over (and not in front of) thresholds).  As part of its training program for election officials and poll workers, the County will provide training concerning temporary remedial measures, including:  (a) why such measures are necessary; and (b) the poll workers’ obligations to not interfere with, move, or otherwise change the temporary remedies in place at their polling place locations for the entire Election Day.

The County will require that all Highway Department personnel who implement the temporary remedies, sign a form in which they are asked to swear or affirm that in performing Election Day duties, the Highway Department personnel will make sure that all temporary measures at each polling place location be installed where instructed and be in place before the opening of the polls.

In the materials provided to each Election Judge for Election Day, the County will include a checklist of the temporary measures to be implemented on Election Day at each polling place location where such measures are required.  The checklist should contain a place for a signature by the Election Judge that he or she kept the temporary remedies in place throughout Election Day, from the opening of the polls to their closing, and should be returned to the County along with other election materials.  Copies of these checklists will be provided to the Department within twenty-one (21) days of the election.

If a temporary remedy is not in place at any time on Election Day, the Election Judge should contact the County Election Director.  The County Election Director shall then send the Highway Department personnel to fix the non-compliant implementation of the temporary measures when possible.  Non-compliance shall be documented by both the Election Judge on the checklists referenced above and the County Election Director.  The County Election Director will provide copies of his or her documentation to the Department within twenty-one (21) days of the election. 

If the County does not properly implement the temporary remedial measures necessary at a particular polling place location on Election Day in two (2) consecutive elections, then the County will no longer use the polling place location and shall relocate it to an accessible location or one that can be made temporarily accessible on Election Day pursuant to Paragraphs 17 and 18 of this Agreement.