By Yarbrough                                          H.B. No. 1053
         76R4898 DRH-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to requiring a voting system to be accessible by persons
 1-3     with physical disabilities.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 122.001(a), Election Code, is amended to
 1-6     read as follows:
 1-7           (a)  A voting system may not be used in an election unless
 1-8     the system:
 1-9                 (1)  preserves the secrecy of the ballot;
1-10                 (2)  is suitable for the purpose for which it is
1-11     intended;
1-12                 (3)  operates safely, efficiently, and accurately;
1-13                 (4)  is safe from fraudulent or unauthorized
1-14     manipulation;
1-15                 (5)  permits voting on all offices and measures to be
1-16     voted on at the election;
1-17                 (6)  prevents counting votes on offices and measures on
1-18     which the voter is not entitled to vote;
1-19                 (7)  prevents counting votes by the same voter for more
1-20     than one candidate for the same office or, in elections in which a
1-21     voter is entitled to vote for more than one candidate for the same
1-22     office, prevents counting votes for more than the number of
1-23     candidates for which the voter is entitled to vote;
1-24                 (8)  prevents counting a vote on the same office or
 2-1     measure more than once;
 2-2                 (9)  permits write-in voting;
 2-3                 (10)  is capable of permitting straight-party voting;
 2-4     [and]
 2-5                 (11)  is capable of providing records from which the
 2-6     operation of the voting system may be audited; and
 2-7                 (12)  complies with Section 504 of the federal
 2-8     Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794) and its
 2-9     subsequent amendments and Title II of the federal Americans with
2-10     Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C.  Section 12131 et seq.) and its
2-11     subsequent amendments and provides a practical and effective means
2-12     for a voter with a physical disability to cast a secret ballot.
2-13           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-14           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-15     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-16     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-17     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-18     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.