Northern Wisconsin town agrees to bring accessible voting machine back

After losing its case in two federal courts, a northern Wisconsin town has agreed to use an electronic voting machine designed for people with disabilities.

The dispute stems from the town’s 2023 decision to remove voting machines due to their “controversial nature.”

In a settlement approved by U.S. District Court Judge James Peterson on Dec. 19, the Rusk County Town of Thornapple agreed to make at least one voting machine designed for people with disabilities available in all federal elections through 2026. The agreement caps a court battle between the U.S. Department of Justice and the town dating back more than a year.

Attorneys with the DOJ sued the Thornapple town board in September 2024 over its decision to remove voting machines entirely the previous year. The DOJ  argued that violated the Help America Vote Act, or HAVA. Attorneys for the town claimed its use of paper ballots didn’t constitute a “voting system” and therefore it wasn’t breaking the law.

A federal judge disagreed in October 2024 and ordered Thornapple to make at least one of the machines available for the November 2024 election. The town appealed the ruling, but lost its case before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July.

Against that backdrop of the federal court case, a Rusk County Democratic Party chair, Disability Rights Wisconsin and the liberal firm Law Forward also filed complaints against Thornapple with the Wisconsin Elections Commission alleging the town also violated state law requiring them to use electronic voting machines.

In May, the commission dismissed Law Forward’s claim that the town needed the permission of the state before it could switch from electronic voting machines to hand-counted paper ballots.