Prairie State Wire

A private citizen alleges in a complaint filed with the Illinois State Board of Elections that a voting system approved by Board of Elections in January is out of compliance with mandatory federal standards for disabled voters and puts federal funding from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) at risk.

George Weckbacher, chairman of Citizens Against Voter Fraud and who filed the May 18 complaint, alleges that a voting system by manufacturer Hart InterCivic, approved on an two-year interim basis by the Board, meets all federal standards but one that covers the disabled. 

"Specifically, the Hart InterCivic Verity 3.1 and Verity 2.6 failed to meet ADA requirements of Section 3.3.4 (b) of VVSG 1.1 (2015) which states : b. The Acc-VS shall provide features that enable voters who lack fine motor control or the use of their hands to submit their ballots privately and independently without manually handling the ballot," Weckbacher wrote in an email to Prairie State Wire.

George Weckbacher | Provided

Hart InterCivic, Weckbacher said, first came before the Board for approval of its system back in April of 2020.

“They informed the Board that the voting system did not meet all the requirements, specifically the ADA requirement,” he said. “They also stated that there was no new voting system in the country that meets the EAC standards.”

In a September 2021 commentary published in the DuPage Policy Journal, Weckbacher wrote that Board approved the system a year later anyway viewing the standard of maintaining privacy and independence for the disabled as “aspirational” while the law is clear that it’s a mandatory requirement.

The system approved this past January is a modified version of the earlier voting system but Weckenbacher says it still fails to meet federal standards for the disabled.

Hart InterCivic did not return a request for comment.

Spokesman for the Board Matt Dietrich verified that the Board did approve the Hart InterCivic voting system in January on a two-year interim basis but beyond that had no further comment.

“Our legal division is reviewing this complaint and will issue a full reply,” Dietrich wrote in an email. “Until then, we will have no comment on the complaint.”

On May 26, the Board’s General Counsel Marni Malowitz sent an email to Weckbacher saying that his complaint, with consideration of appointment of a hearing examiner, will likely come before the Board during its next scheduled meeting on June 22.

Requirements to accommodate disabled voters are included in guidance established by the EAC, which was created by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002.

HAVA created mandatory minimum standards for states to follow in election administration. The law provides funding to help states meet these new standards.

In 2020, HAVA granted Illinois $14,830,251.