WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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The Helping Americans Vote Act, or HAVA, was signed into law in 2002. HAVA was implemented to improve vote accuracy as well as provide equal accessibility at polling locations to those with disabilities. As we reported earlier, the Monroe county commissioners recently approved the use of voting sites where people will vote in the coming primary. On Monday, the HAVA Task Force submitted an evaluation of the proposed voting sites. Two of the 31 locations were determined to be inaccessible to someone who uses a wheel chair. Those two sites, Read and Teter dorms on IU’s campus, are inaccessible because there is not adequate parking, no curb-cuts or ramps, and they are too far away from the side walk. This makes the sites impossible to reach from some Monroe County citizens. The county HAVA task force, led by Randy Paul, recommended that these sites be relocated to the courthouse and the fire station. The commissioners and the election board did not, however, employ the task force’s recommendations. As a result, Paul has resigned from his leadership role and has filed a legal complaint with the Department of Justice, stating that the approval of inaccessible sites violates a 9 year-old law. In today’s feature exclusive, assistant news director Ryan Dawes speaks with Paul about his motivation to sue the county and how he hopes this dispute will resolve.
