Case: American Council of the Blind of Indiana v. Indiana Election Commission

In a lawsuit filed December 3, 2020 in the U.S. District court for the Southern District of Indiana, several individual plaintiffs, joined by Indiana Disability Rights and the American Council of the Blind of Indiana, asserted that the Indiana Election Commission and the Secretary of State discriminated against voters who are blind or have low vision by not offering the necessary accommodations that these voters need to vote privately and independently when using the absentee vote-by-mail program. The plaintiffs raised claims under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and were represented by attorneys from Disability Rights Advocates and Indiana Disability Rights.

On March 9, 2022, assigned District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson issued an order on plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction (2022 WL 702257), striking down Indiana’s rule that absentee voters who could not independently mark their ballot may vote at home only by appointment with a “traveling board” of elections officials in the May 2022 election. The traveling board rule was the most restrictive in the country for voters with disabilities and had resulted in at least one voter—one of the named plaintiffs—being unable to cast a ballot in the November 2020 Presidential Election because a traveling board never came to her home to help her vote. As a result of the court’s ruling, voters with print disabilities were permitted to seek help from the person of their choice to complete a paper absentee ballot in the May 2022 primary election.

Under the preliminary injunction, the defendants were required to notify county election boards that they must accept absentee ballots marked by blind voters with the assistant of their choice. The court also recognized that the defendants’ proposed electronic voting scheme fails to afford voters a private and independent vote, and ordered the defendants to report data on electronic ballots submitted by blind voters in the May 2022 primary.

After the preliminary injunction was issued, the parties filed cross motions for summary judgment. In an order issued on September 2, 2022, Judge Magnus-Stinson granted each party's motion in part. She found that Indiana absentee voting procedures violated the ADA and issued a declaratory judgment to that effect. Judge Magnus-Stinson also prohibited the state from making the traveling board procedure mandatory for the November 2022 election. However, she declined to order the state to adopt a web-based voting tool that the plaintiffs had suggested. She encouraged the parties to continue to work together to come to a resolution.

The settlement agreement was signed by relevant parties between January 5th and 17th of 2023. As a result of the settlement, the state agreed to acquire a new remote and accessible ballot marking tool that would allow blind voters to cast their absentee ballots privately and independently. Voters would be able to access and mark their ballots digitally, then submit their marked ballots via email. The tool was to be available to voters in time for the May 2023 primary election. As part of the settlement the plaintiffs’ filed an unopposed motion to extend the preliminary injunction, which the court granted. The state was prohibited from making the traveling board procedure mandatory through the May 2023 primary election. The settlement also contained reporting requirements. Within 60 days of the May 2023, November 2023, May 2024, November 2024, and May 2025 elections, the defendants were required to provide a report detailing the number of submitted and approved applications to use the remote accessible ballot marking tool, and the number of absentee ballots actually sent, returned and counted using the assistive technology.

The parties stipulated to a dismissal in the settlement, and the case was dismissed with prejudice on February 27, 2023.