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Polling location disability friendly, follows guidelines
Josh Smith
Issue date: 2/27/08 Section: News
The new polling station in the Hamilton Center offers a convenient place for many students in District 2 to vote, yet there is a group making sure that it is accessible for students and citizens with disabilities as well.
The Government Accountability Board was making random visits during the Feb. 19 primary to polling locations throughout Wisconsin to make sure people with disabilities had the same opportunity to vote as others.
"All Wisconsin voters should be able to vote without difficulty at their polling places on election day," said Elections Division Administrator Nat Robinson in a news release from the Government Accountability Board.
Kyle Richmond, a public information officer at the Government Accountability Board, said polling surveys were sent out to locations so that they could better gauge which places were accessible.
"There were no survey visits to Walworth County," Richmond said.
Although members of the group did not come to local polling areas, the locations are still required to accommodate those with disabilities.
These things include wide doorways, proper lighting, availability of handrails and parking lot access.
Elizabeth Watson is the director at the Center for Students with Disabilities. She said that the university meets required criteria and often exceeds what is necessary.
"The [University Center] was designed to be [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant with features built into it," Watson said. "The UC in itself is a fully accessible site."
Because the Hamilton Center is a large space, Watson feels there is enough room for the campus polling site to assist voters with disabilities.
"There should have been sufficient space to accommodate them and meet that need," Watson said.
The university also met expectations with handicap parking accessibility.
It's mandated by law to have three percent of your total parking spaced to be handicap parking, according to Watson.
"Here at Whitewater it's not such a problem because we exceed the ADA requirement for parking spots exponentially," Watson said. "We have a ton of handicap parking."
Watson said close to 5 percent of UW-Whitewater's parking spaces are available for handicap citizens.
The new polling location meets the standards of the Government Accountability Board and according to Watson has logged no student complaints. It appears many students in District 2 can look forward to more pleasant voting experiences in the future.
The Government Accountability Board will continue to audit polling locations throughout the year and may release information on local polling places.
The Government Accountability Board was making random visits during the Feb. 19 primary to polling locations throughout Wisconsin to make sure people with disabilities had the same opportunity to vote as others.
"All Wisconsin voters should be able to vote without difficulty at their polling places on election day," said Elections Division Administrator Nat Robinson in a news release from the Government Accountability Board.
Kyle Richmond, a public information officer at the Government Accountability Board, said polling surveys were sent out to locations so that they could better gauge which places were accessible.
"There were no survey visits to Walworth County," Richmond said.
Although members of the group did not come to local polling areas, the locations are still required to accommodate those with disabilities.
These things include wide doorways, proper lighting, availability of handrails and parking lot access.
Elizabeth Watson is the director at the Center for Students with Disabilities. She said that the university meets required criteria and often exceeds what is necessary.
"The [University Center] was designed to be [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant with features built into it," Watson said. "The UC in itself is a fully accessible site."
Because the Hamilton Center is a large space, Watson feels there is enough room for the campus polling site to assist voters with disabilities.
"There should have been sufficient space to accommodate them and meet that need," Watson said.
The university also met expectations with handicap parking accessibility.
It's mandated by law to have three percent of your total parking spaced to be handicap parking, according to Watson.
"Here at Whitewater it's not such a problem because we exceed the ADA requirement for parking spots exponentially," Watson said. "We have a ton of handicap parking."
Watson said close to 5 percent of UW-Whitewater's parking spaces are available for handicap citizens.
The new polling location meets the standards of the Government Accountability Board and according to Watson has logged no student complaints. It appears many students in District 2 can look forward to more pleasant voting experiences in the future.
The Government Accountability Board will continue to audit polling locations throughout the year and may release information on local polling places.
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