Washoe County Registrar of Voters Andrew McDonald told state lawmakers that the county is working to overhaul accessibility at voting locations after a federal review found multiple violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Speaking during the Feb. 20 meeting of the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections, McDonald said the U.S. Department of Justice surveyed 10 Washoe County voting sites during the 2024 primary election and found all 10 failed to meet ADA compliance standards for a variety of reasons.
Following the review, Washoe County entered into a voluntary settlement agreement with the Department of Justice in December 2024 to establish a comprehensive ADA-compliant polling program.
The agreement requires the county to create updated accessibility policies, retrain staff and poll workers, remediate noncompliant voting locations, and provide additional accommodations for voters with disabilities.
McDonald said the county has hired an ADA accessibility expert from the University of Nevada, Reno, to evaluate each polling site. The expert accompanies election officials to assess locations and verify they meet federal requirements.
Under the agreement, Washoe County must complete a 170-point Department of Justice accessibility checklist at every early voting site and all 55 Election Day vote centers.
However, McDonald said the county faces significant challenges because many polling locations are located in older buildings and depend on facilities owned by cities, schools, and private businesses.
Common violations cited by the Department of Justice include insufficient accessible parking, steep slopes, damaged pavement, and inaccessible paths of travel leading into buildings. Because of those challenges, McDonald said Washoe County is developing new solutions to maintain accessibility for voters with disabilities.
One of those initiatives is a curbside voting program that would allow voters with disabilities to cast ballots from their vehicles if entering the polling place is difficult or impossible.
McDonald said the county is working with its voting system vendor to design a mobile voting cart, which includes a ballot marking device, ballot printer, a voter check-in station, and battery backup power supply.
Under the proposed system, voters would park in a designated accessible space and call a phone number posted on signage. Election staff would then bring the mobile voting unit to the vehicle, so the voter can privately mark and print their ballot. The ballot is then placed in a secrecy sleeve and taken inside the vote center by an election worker.
Washoe County is also making accessibility changes by redesigning its elections website for ADA digital compliance and offering large-print sample ballots upon request. Voting machines used in the county already include accessibility features such as audio ballots, tactile controls, high-contrast displays, headphones, and “sip-and-puff” technology for voters with limited mobility.
Inside vote centers, voters with disabilities may also request to move to the front of the line if they are unable to stand for extended time periods.
Additionally, the registrar’s office modified more than 120 ballot drop boxes purchased before the 2024 election after the Department of Justice determined the handles were not long enough to meet ADA standards. Instead of replacing the drop boxes, county staff is working with facilities crews to retrofit them with extended handles to bring them into compliance, avoiding the cost of purchasing new units.
McDonald said the county is still working to bring many locations up to federal standards ahead of the 2026 election. At present, fewer than 20 percent of Washoe County’s potential vote center locations are fully compliant without modifications.
Officials are continuing to search for new polling locations while working to remediate existing sites before the next election cycle.
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