FY26 Polling Place Accessibility Grant (HAVA)

FY26 Polling Place Accessibility Grant (HAVA)

APPLICATIONS ARE ONLY ACCEPTED FROM ELECTION AUTHORITIES IN ILLINOIS PILOTING THE PROGRAM.

These funds are to address areas of inaccessibility in Illinois’ polling places. Funding is prioritized to correct barriers to accessing polling places – working toward the goal that all Illinois voters are able to exercise their right to vote privately and independently.

Funding is allocated based on quotes and narratives provided from jurisdictions who applied for the Polling Place Accessibility Grant, and is prioritized based on funding need.

This grant funding should not be used to purchase and/or fund other projects but should be used to fund the projects approved in your submitted application.

Details

• Awarding Agency: State Board of Elections
• CSFA Popular Name: Polling Place Accessibility Grant
• Assistance Listings Number: 90.404
• Funding Sources: Federal Or Federal Pass Through
• Posted Date: 2025-09-18
• Award Period: 2025-07-01 – 2026-06-30

Funding Source Description

Allowable expenditures include the following:

Permanent improvements: The awarded funds may be used for permanent improvements (e.g. permanent ramp) on public buildings only. Care should be taken to ensure that funds are not exhausted on a few expensive improvements if that would leave other polling places not improved at all. Please discuss these with your State's Attorney pior to applying.

Signage: There should be signs from the parking area directing the voter along the accessible path of travel from parking to polling place. Signs should indicate the location of, and how to get to, the accessible entrance. Since the accessible entrance is often around the side or back of a building, and the polling place is not right inside, signs should be placed inside the building directing the voter (along an accessible path) to the polling place area. lnside the polling place, signs should indicate what services (e.g. assistance in the voting booth) and equipment are available for voters with disabilities; these should be placed near the area where adaptive equipment, (magnifiers and enlarged styluses and paper and pens for communicating with the deaf) is located. Signs may be purchased from many vendors, some of whom specialize in signs relating to voting accessibility.

Parking: Where parking is provided, it is necessary to designate parking spaces for voters with disabilities (such as with signs or cones). Notably, the 2010 standards require specific signs indicating van-accessible parking spots. Where street parking is the only choice, a space near a curb-cut should be marked off by signs and cones.

Heavy/locked doors: ln cold weather, propping doors open may not be an option. Moreover, schools and other facilities are increasingly unwilling to have their doors left open, and in some instances even require that they remain locked. ln these instances, a portable alert system (e.g. bell, intercom) can be used. These should be used along with signs instructing the voter to ring for assistance and access.
lnaccessible door Hardware: For doors that have hardware that cannot be manipulated by a closed fist, the alert system referred to above may be used. Alternatively, there are available for purchase, hardware retrofit kits that may render the door accessible.

Gravel and other rough surfaces: Othenrvise accessible polling places may only be reachable only by traveling on gravel and other surfaces that are inhospitable to wheelchair and cane users and, thus, may make a polling place inaccessible. Matting, which smooths out the surface is available for purchase.

Steps: Steps higher than 1/2 inch are not accessible to wheelchair users. Attention must also be paid to the slope. Portable, temporary ramps may be purchased for entrances and interior spaces where only a few steps are involved or where slope is too steep. These are available from a number of vendors and would be retained by the election authority for use in future elections.

Door Width: The width of a doorway is affected by its hinges. Door widening hinges can be used to widen a door up to 2 inches. To be accessible, the width of a door should be at least 32 inches; however, a width of 36 inches is recommended.

Voting Booths: Accessible voting booths (for wheelchair users and others requiring a seated position) should be provided in each polling place. These booths should provide adequate clearance for the chair - adequate width and adequate reach. They should also have a screen for privacy.

Training: There is a continuing need for training of judges and poll workers in the best ways to assist voters with disabilities, especially in the use and display of adaptive equipment and in formulating creative, flexible, and respectful solutions to problems that may arise.

Accessible Websites: Already created websites that are maintained by the county clerk's/elections office can be made to be ADA Accessible websites. Please note: an entire county website will not be covered, only the elections part of the website or, if the county clerk maintains its own website separately from the county, the county clerk's site is considered an allowable expense.

Restrictions on Indirect Costs

Yes

Additional Information

https://elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/DivGrantsProgram.aspx