SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND COCONINO COUNTY REGARDING THE ACCESSIBILITY OF POLLING PLACES

BACKGROUND

1. The United States Department of Justice (the “Department”) opened an investigation of Coconino County (“County”) under title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (“ADA”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131 - 12134, and title II’s implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. pt. 35, to determine the physical accessibility of the County’s polling places to people with mobility and vision disabilities.

2. The County is a “public entity” within the meaning of the ADA, 42 U.S.C. § 12131(1), and 28 C.F.R. § 35.104, and is, therefore, subject to title II of the ADA and its implementing regulation.

3. The County operates services, programs, and activities within the meaning of Title II, including operating a voting program for federal, state, and local elections for which it selects and uses sites as polling places.

4. The County, through its Board of Supervisors, is responsible for reviewing the accessibility of each polling place and selecting each polling place. The County has 68 listed precincts, currently housed in 61 polling place locations, and seven early voting sites.

5. During the August 30, 2016 Election, the Department surveyed 31 of the County’s 61 polling place locations and 7 early voting locations.  The Department found that many of the County’s precincts and early voting locations are housed in polling places which contain barriers to access for persons with disabilities, and that the County violated title II by failing to select and use facilities as polling places on Election Day that are accessible to persons with disabilities. The accessibility barriers identified by the Department are contained in Attachments A and B.