SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS

D. Election Day Compliance Review

36. Harris County will develop a checklist of the temporary measures to be implemented on Election Day at each polling place location where such measures are required.  The checklist shall be included in the materials provided to each election judge for Election Day and provided to each Harris County employee or vendor involved in installing or implementing temporary measures for Election Day.  The checklist shall include clear instructions and diagrams for the remedial measures to be implemented by the election judge.  Copies of these checklists, instructions, and diagrams will be provided to the Experts and to the United States no later than sixty (60)days before each election.

37. Harris County will designate County personnel (or contractors) as EDSs to review compliance at the polling place locations where temporary measures are to be implemented on Election Day.  Harris County will provide at least ten teams of two members each in each countywide election.  For each election that is not countywide, Harris County will field a number of teams that is similarly proportionate to the size of the election.  The EDSs shall review compliance with as many polling place locations in each election as is reasonable, with a minimum of twenty (20) polling places reviewed in each election for each team.  All Early Voting locations shall be reviewed by the EDSs at least once during each election.  Any polling place location found by the EDSs to be non-compliant in an election shall be reviewed by EDSs in the subsequent election.  The EDSs shall review polling places where temporary measures are to be implemented on a rotating basis so that they are not reviewing the same polling place locations in a subsequent election, except for those found to be non-compliant.

38. Harris County and the EDSs will use the checklist developed pursuant to Paragraph 36 of this Agreement to review compliance on Election Day.  The EDSs shall document their compliance reviews (both compliant and non-compliant polling place locations) with detailed photographs.  After documenting a non-compliant polling place location, the EDSs shall remedy any non-compliant implementation of a temporary remedy when possible.  Copies of these compliance reviews will be provided to the Experts and the United States within ninety (90) days after each election.

39. If Harris County does not properly implement the temporary remedial measures necessary at a particular polling place location on Election Day in two (2) consecutive elections, and, if the polling place location is a county-owned polling place location and Harris County does not make permanent architectural remediation, then Harris County will no longer use the polling place location and will relocate it to a location that is Accessible on Election Day.  If Harris County asserts, and the United States agrees, that remediation and relocation to an accessible polling place location are infeasible, then Harris County shall comply with Title II’s program accessibility requirements, as described in Paragraph 21 of this Agreement.