Source: https://www.ada.gov/luzerne_sa.html
Timestamp: 2017-04-29 01:37:15
Document Index: 709558328

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 12131', '§ 12132', '§ 35', '§ 35', '§ 35', '§ 12131', '§ 35', '§ 12131', '§ 12133', '§ 12132', '§ 35', '§ 13132', '§ 35', '§ 35', '§ 35']

AND LUZERNE COUNTY
This settlement agreement (the "Agreement") is entered into between the United States of America and Luzerne County (collectively, the "Parties").
The United States Department of Justice (the “Department”) opened an investigation of Luzerne County (the “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 County’s polling places to people with mobility and vision disabilities. Title II of the ADA prohibits public entities from excluding individuals with disabilities from participation in or denying them the benefits of the voting program, or subjecting them to discrimination, on the basis of disability. 42 U.S.C. § 12132, 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.130(a), 35.149. Title II also prohibits public entities from selecting facilities to be used as polling places that have the effect of excluding individuals with disabilities from or denying them the benefits of the voting program, or otherwise subjecting them to discrimination. 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(4). Title II requires public entities to administer their services, programs, and activities in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities. 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(d). Luzerne 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, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12131 – 12134, and its implementing regulation, 28 C.F.R. pt. 35. The Department is authorized under the ADA to determine the County’s compliance with title II of the ADA and title II’s implementing regulation, and to resolve the matter by informal resolution, such as through the terms of this settlement agreement. If informal resolution is not achieved, the Department is authorized to issue findings, and, where appropriate, to negotiate and secure voluntary compliance agreements. 28 C.F.R. pt. 35, Subpart F. The Attorney General is authorized, under 42 U.S.C. § 12133, to bring a civil action to enforce title II of the ADA.
The County, through its Bureau of Elections, is responsible for reviewing the accessibility of each polling place and selecting each polling place. The County has 180 voting precincts.
In the November 3, 2015 general election, the Department surveyed 52 of the County’s 180 polling place locations. The Department found that many of the County’s polling places contain barriers to access for persons with disabilities, and thus the County violated title II by failing to select facilities to be used as polling places on Election Day that are accessible to persons with disabilities. The Department’s findings are contained in Attachment 1.
“Accessible on Election Day” means that a polling place is compliant with the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design (“2010 Standards”) on Election Day, whether such compliance is achieved through permanent physical modifications or through the use of temporary measures such as those provided for in Paragraph 15 below.
Luzerne County shall not exclude individuals with disabilities from participation in or deny them the benefits of the voting program, or subject them to discrimination, on the basis of disability. 42 U.S.C. § 12132, 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.130(a), and 35,149. The County shall select facilities to be used as polling places that do not exclude individuals with disabilities from or deny them the benefits of the polling place, or otherwise subject them to discrimination. 42 U.S.C. § 13132; 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(b)(4). The County shall administer its voting program in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of persons with disabilities. 28 C.F.R. § 35.130(d). For all elections occurring after the Effective Date of this Agreement, the County will implement measures to remediate the violations at polling places identified and as set forth in Attachment 1, to make those polling place locations accessible on Election Day, or will relocate those locations to an alternative accessible location pursuant to the process established in Paragraph 17 of this Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement limits the County from making ADA-compliant, permanent modifications to its polling place locations instead of providing temporary remedial measures or relocating a polling place location. If remediation as listed on Attachment 1 or relocation to an accessible facility is impossible, as agreed to by the United States, then the County agrees to comply with title II’s program accessibility requirements. The County shall maintain in operable working condition on Election Day those features of facilities and equipment (including, but not limited to, permanent equipment such as lifts and elevators, and temporary equipment such as portable ramps, traffic cones, signs, wedges, and door stops) that are required to make polling places accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities. 28 C.F.R. § 35.133(a). If circumstances arise such that a polling place location that was previously accessible is no longer accessible because a feature of the facility or equipment is no longer operable, then the County shall purchase new equipment or relocate the polling place to an alternative, accessible location pursuant to the process established in Paragraph 17 of this Agreement. If remediation or relocation to an accessible facility is impossible, as agreed to by the United States, then the County agrees to comply with Title II’s program accessibility requirement.
The County will develop a survey instrument to assess whether a polling place location is or can be made accessible on Election Day. The survey instrument will be based on the 2010 Standards of the United States’ and 2016 “ADA Checklist for Polling Places” publication. The survey instrument will include a requirement to include photographs and will also require the identification of appropriate remedial provisions, including the remedial provisions in Paragraph 15 of this Agreement. The survey instrument will be submitted to the United States for review and approval within 21 days of the Effective Date of this Agreement. The County shall incorporate in its survey instrument any changes, additions, or modifications proposed by the United States.
Beginning with the effective date of this Agreement, the County will survey the polling place locations not surveyed by the Department that the County intends to use in future elections, using the survey instrument referenced in Paragraph 16 of this Agreement. The County will provide these surveys to the United States as they are conducted, to be completed no later than December 1, 2017.
For the polling place locations surveyed by the County pursuant to Paragraph 18 of this Agreement, by the November 2017 election, the County will implement the appropriate remedial provisions to make polling place locations accessible on Election Day, or will relocate inaccessible locations to an alternative accessible location pursuant to the process established by Paragraph 17 of this Agreement.
For the duration of this Agreement, when the County selects a new polling place location, the County will provide the United States notice within twenty-one (21) days of the decision. The County will provide the United States with copies of all surveys (and photographs) conducted within twenty-one (21) days of the decision to use the location as a polling place. The United States’ approval must be obtained prior to the location being used in an election. The United States’ approval will be based exclusively on whether the purposed polling place location satisfies the survey instrument referenced in Paragraph 16 of this Agreement.
In the materials provided to each Judge of Election for Election Day, the County will include a checklist of the temporary measures to be implemented on Election Day at each polling place location where such measures are required. The checklist should contain a place for signature by the Judge of Election that he or she put the temporary measures in place and kept them in place through Election Day, from the opening of the polls to their closing, and should be returned to the County along with other election materials. Copies of these checklists will be provided to the United States within twenty-one (21) days of the election.
Michael I. Butera, Esquire
This Agreement shall be applicable to and biding upon the County, its officers, agents, employees, and assigns.
228 Walnut Street, Suite 200
/s/ Michael I. Butera
Michael I. Butera, Attorney Bureau of Elections
20 North Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 207
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711 Date: January 12, 2017