Justice Department Finds Alaska Discriminated Against Disabled Voters, Violated Federal Law

An investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice found that Alaska failed to comply with requirements set forth by federal law to make voting accessible for people with disabilities.

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that Alaska discriminated against voters with disabilities by failing to provide an accessible ballot for in-person voting; selecting inaccessible polling places for federal, state and local elections; and maintaining an inaccessible election website.

“For too long, people with disabilities have been denied the fundamental rights and freedoms that citizens of our democracy possess, including the opportunity to fully participate in the voting process,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement on Tuesday.

Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), state voting services, programs and activities are required to be accessible to individuals who have disabilities.

“The Justice Department is fully committed to enforcing the ADA to make sure that individuals with disabilities have an equal opportunity to vote, including by voting privately and independently like everyone else,” Clarke said.

An investigation in 2022 through the department’s ADA Voting Initiative was prompted by several complaints from Alaskans about accessibility issues they faced in the voting process.

Some voters reported that they couldn’t privately or independently vote because the accessible voting machines were unavailable or didn’t work. Others said that the polling places were inaccessible and that they couldn’t obtain important information about the election online because the state’s election website wasn’t accessible.

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