SMITH COUNTY, Texas — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above aired on Sept. 19, 2023.
An East Texas county violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by not having an election website accessible to individuals with disabilities.
According to the Justice Department, Smith County is one of four Texas counties whose election website violates the rights of individuals with vision or manual disabilities. The other counties are Colorado, Runnels, and Upton.
“Voting is fundamental to American democracy,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “It is imperative that all eligible voters with disabilities across the country have the information they need to access the ballot and exercise their right to vote in state and federal elections.”
An example of the violation is the menus and links do not function properly for people who use a keyboard to navigate, and posted documents are inaccessible to people who use assistive technologies. Due to the inaccessibility of the websites, the counties deny people with disabilities equal access to election programs and online services provided through these websites and fail to ensure effective communication with people with disabilities, the department said.
The election websites provide important information about how to vote, registration requirements, identification requirements, early voting, Election Day, and voting information for individuals with disabilities.
The department issued public letters to the counties stating to resolve the violations by working with the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across Texas.