Communities across the state are adapting their polling places to make it easier for people with disabilities to vote this fall.

The state has required accessible polls for more than 20 years, but many of New Hampshire's 309 voting locations don't pass muster. A survey during last winter's primary found inadequate parking, narrow doors, icy ramps and other barriers that made voting difficult for people who use wheelchairs, walkers and canes.

Cities and towns have until Friday to tell the attorney general's office how they'll comply with accessibility requirements in time for the fall elections. The state set the deadline after last winter's survey, and accessibility experts have been crisscrossing the state, helping town and city clerks fix ramps, doors and signs.

"It's been really good to bring accessibility in polling places to everyone's attention, and now we're getting action," said Cheryl Killam, the state's accessibility specialist. "A lot of changes were made in the last 20 years, but certainly not enough."

In January, about 50 volunteers checked the town halls, church basements, community centers and schools where residents cast their ballots. Some of the buildings were just fine, but plenty needed improvements. On average, inspectors recommended about 15 changes for each voting location.

No one is sure how much it will cost New Hampshire communities to overhaul their polls, but other states have done similar renovations cheaply. Rhode Island, for example, spent about $400 per location two years ago.

Most problems are easy, and cheap, to fix, Killam said, such as posting better signs, repainting handicapped parking spaces and changing the layout of voting booths to allow for easier wheelchair passage.

"The parking is very inexpensive to fix," Killam said. "It's a sign. It's also more awareness of keeping things free of snow and ice."

Other changes are more drastic.Pittsfield will have to extend the wheelchair ramp at town hall and make the doors easier to open. But Town Clerk Elizabeth Hast says it won't be hard to comply. To help pay for the changes, the town has applied for a grant from the state.

"It's nothing too serious," she said.

For communities with major problems, like narrow doorways or no ramps at all, Killam has a simple, and usually free, solution: Move the polls. Manchester switched two of its polling locations to newer, more accessible buildings after inspectors found problems with ramps and parking.

Concord moved its Ward 8 polling location from the Heights Community Center to the Bektash Temple. The temple is a lot cozier than the community center, and its doors are easier to open for people who use wheelchairs, said City Clerk Janice Bonenfant. Aside from that, the city has to make minor changes.

"We may have to repaint handicapped lines for parking," she said.

The accessibility guidelines aren't new, but advocates are working harder than ever to see they're enforced. New Hampshire's Constitution was amended in the 1980s to require accessible polls, and a federal law called the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, lays out similar rules.

"While folks have some work to do . . . towns have done a lot since the '80s, when the constitutional amendment was adopted," said Assistant Attorney General Bud Fitch, who's overseeing the inspections for the state.

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