HBA-RBT H.B. 1545 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1545 By: Danburg Elections 2/22/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 require the election process to be accessible to voters with disabilities. H.B. 1545 requires polling places to conform with the Texas Accessibility Standards which have been certified by the U.S. Department of Justice as meeting the ADA guidelines. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends the heading of Section 43.034, Election Code, as follows: Sec. 43.034. New title: ACCESSIBILITY OF POLLING PLACE TO THE ELDERLY AND PERSONS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES. Deletes "physically handicapped" from existing title. SECTION 2. Amends Section 43.034(a), Election Code, to provide that polling places must comply with the standards established under Article 9102, V.T.C.S. (Architectural Barriers). Increases the minimum width of an elevator that makes a polling place accessible from 30 inches to 36 inches. Increases the minimum width of doors, entrances, and exits used to enter or leave polling places from 30 inches to 32 inches. Makes conforming and nonsubstantive changes. SECTION 3. Amends Section 174.022(d), Election Code, to make conforming and nonsubstantive changes. SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 5. Emergency clause.