This topic comes up frequently of whether voting machines are required for voters with disabilities under all circumstances – whether ballots are hand counted or machine counted. This seems to be especially true when there is talk of returning to hand counting. For example, in Shasta County, California, when the Board of Supervisors voted to discontinue funding of voting machines, they were met with much opposition. One of the final “objections” was to insist that machines still needed to be purchased and used at each polling location for voters with disabilities regardless if ballots were hand-counted.

With so many people seeking clarification, Col. Shawn Smith (USAF Ret.) with Cause of America provided this analysis on the topic:

52 US Code §21081(a)(3) specifically addresses a “voting system,” which is referenced at the beginning of the code as, “including any lever voting system, optical scanning voting system, or direct recording electronic system.”

52 US Code §10508 is very brief, as quoted by Col. Smith in his answer. I would agree with Col. Smith that this code allows any voter who requires assistance to receive it without mandating machines.

In Missouri, Statute 115.445 echoes Col. Smith’s assessment about assisting voters who request help with voting. The statute states that voters declaring a need for assistance can be helped by two election judges, one Democrat and one Republican, ensuring bipartisan support.

It is Missouri’s statute 115.267 which gives election authorities the authority to “adopt, experiment with or abandon any electronic voting system.” This statute consists of one sentence and nothing in it, or any other statute I can find, requires an election authority to provide at least one voting machine for use by disabled voters.

The U.S. Department of Justice in 2024 filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin town of Thornapple over the issue of providing at least one voting machine in every polling place for accessibility. A federal judge ordered the town to resume using at least one voting machine and the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ posted election monitors to assure compliance.

Thornapple is appealing the federal ruling.

It is not uncommon for people to put forth the idea that we could make everyone happy by counting our ballots both ways: we could run them through machines, and then have teams hand count them.

There are a multitude of reasons why this is not compatible – especially in Missouri – but I’ll present just a very basic concern about chain of custody of the ballots.

Depending on the type of voting machine used at your polling place, once you cast your ballot it is required to be SECURED. In Missouri, we can begin counting ballots one hour after polls open – which is why we can finish counting about the same time as machines. Imagine teams of counters opening voting machines to take out batches of ballots to count. Nope. When ballots are removed from a machine, there are reports to be run and checks to make sure the quantity of ballots matches what the machine says were cast.

So, many people have suggested that once the machines are done, then the hand counters can take the ballots to see if everything matches. Who tracked those ballots from the machines through every step that is taken to finalize the machine counts, and then given to the hand counters. Were any ballots swapped, changed, lost, or added?

They only way to do a secure hand count is to tally the ballots in the polling place on election day/night before they ever leave the location.

Read how hand counting enhances transparency and security.

The shift to hand counting by some Wisconsin towns, supported by legal interpretations in U.S. Code, plus the success of the hand counted election in Osage County, Missouri, demonstrates that election integrity and accessibility can coexist without machines.

As we approach Mike Lindell’s defamation trial on June 2, 2025, this legal clarity is timely. The trial and evidence of election fraud could further shift the narrative toward hand counting. Support this movement by contributing to the Lindell Defense Fund, use our Tally Demo and Express Training tools to spread the message that hand counting is easy, and share this post.

This is a beacon for other states and a call to action for trained hand counters. Stay informed and join us in preparing the country for hand counting.