Rusk County Town Becomes Subject of Injunction Filed by DOJ

A Rusk County town has become the subject of an injunction filed by the Department of Justice for not providing accessible voting equipment.

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, a federal court in the Western District of Wisconsin entered a preliminary injunction on Friday. The injunction requires the Town of Thornapple to offer accessible voting equipment at each of its polling places for the November 5th election.

On September 20th, the DOJ announced that it had filed a complaint against the Rusk County town. In the complaint, the Town of Thornapple was accused of violating the Help America Vote Act, which requires each polling place to be equipped with at least one voting machine that is accessible for voters with disabilities.

The complaint also targeted the Town of Lawrence, but noted that the town and DOJ came to an agreement to provide the voting machines again. Both Town Boards voted to stop using the accessible voting machines in 2023, and the Town of Thornapple made no agreement to reverse their decision. According to a WPR report, the decision was made due to unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was stolen and the computers were somehow full of errors.

In addition to requiring the Town of Thornapple to use the machines in November’s election, the injunction also requires the town to prominently post signage about their availability. The town will also need to certify to the court that the system works and election officials have been trained to use it by October 31st.