By:  Danburg                                            H.B. No. 76
       73R504 DRH-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the accessibility of a polling place or a precinct
    1-3  convention to the elderly and physically handicapped.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 43.034, Election Code, is amended to read
    1-6  as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 43.034.  Accessibility of Polling Place to the Elderly
    1-8  and Physically Handicapped.  (a)  Each <Except as provided by this
    1-9  section, each> polling place shall be accessible to and usable by
   1-10  the elderly and physically handicapped.  To be considered
   1-11  accessible, a polling place must meet the following standards:
   1-12              (1)  the polling place must be on the ground-level
   1-13  floor or be accessible from the ground-level floor by an elevator
   1-14  with doors that provide an opening of at least 30 inches in width;
   1-15              (2)  doors, entrances, and exits used to enter or leave
   1-16  the polling place must have a minimum width of 30 inches;
   1-17              (3)  any curb adjacent to the main entrance to a
   1-18  polling place must have curb cuts or temporary nonslip ramps;
   1-19              (4)  any stairs necessary to enter or leave the polling
   1-20  place must have a handrail and nonslip ramp; and
   1-21              (5)  the polling place may not have a barrier that
   1-22  impedes the path of the physically handicapped to the voting
   1-23  station.
   1-24        (b)  The <Subsection (a) does not apply to a temporary
    2-1  polling place or a polling place in a nonpublic building.  The
    2-2  authority responsible for designating polling places may designate
    2-3  a polling place in a public building without regard to Subsection
    2-4  (a) if:>
    2-5              <(1)  an acceptable and accessible site is unavailable
    2-6  within the precinct for the election; and>
    2-7              <(2)  it is anticipated that the site can be brought
    2-8  into compliance with the standards by affirmative governmental
    2-9  action.>
   2-10        <(c)  Not later than January 1, 1986, each commissioners
   2-11  court shall provide a polling place that complies with Subsection
   2-12  (a) in at least 60 percent of the county election precincts.  Not
   2-13  later than January 1, 1987, the commissioners court shall provide a
   2-14  polling place that complies with Subsection (a) in at least 85
   2-15  percent of the county election precincts.  Not later than January
   2-16  1, 1988, the> commissioners court shall provide a polling place
   2-17  that complies with Subsection (a) in each county election precinct.
   2-18  The site shall be made available for use as a polling place on
   2-19  every day that an election may be held within the precinct by any
   2-20  authority that holds elections.  The commissioners court may make
   2-21  expenditures from either the general fund or the permanent
   2-22  improvement fund to bring an existing county-owned site into
   2-23  compliance with Subsection (a).
   2-24        (c) <(d)>  The governing body of each political subdivision
   2-25  that holds elections shall cooperate with the commissioners court
   2-26  in its respective county in implementing this section and is
   2-27  subject to the same requirements <deadlines> for compliance as
    3-1  prescribed by Subsection (b) <(c)>.  If the authority holding an
    3-2  election rejects a county-designated polling place that is
    3-3  available and chooses to use a different site of its own
    3-4  designation, it shall provide a polling place that complies with
    3-5  Subsection (a) at its own expense.  A political party that is
    3-6  holding a primary election may not reject an available
    3-7  county-designated polling place without the prior consent of the
    3-8  secretary of state.
    3-9        SECTION 2.  Section 174.022, Election Code, is amended by
   3-10  adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
   3-11        (d)  The location selected for a precinct convention must
   3-12  meet the same requirements for access by elderly and physically
   3-13  handicapped persons as a polling place under Section 43.034(a).
   3-14        SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
   3-15        SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-16  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-17  emergency   and   an   imperative   public   necessity   that   the
   3-18  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-19  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.