By Danburg, Uresti H.B. No. 1545
76R4605 PAM-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to accessibility standards at polling places and precinct
1-3 convention places for the elderly and persons with physical
1-4 disabilities.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. The heading of Section 43.034, Election Code, is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 43.034. ACCESSIBILITY OF POLLING PLACE TO THE ELDERLY
1-9 AND PERSONS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES [PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED].
1-10 SECTION 2. Section 43.034(a), Election Code, is amended to
1-11 read as follows:
1-12 (a) Each polling place shall be accessible to and usable by
1-13 the elderly and persons with physical disabilities [physically
1-14 handicapped]. To be considered accessible, a polling place must
1-15 meet the standards established under Article 9102, Revised
1-16 Statutes, including the following standards:
1-17 (1) the polling place must be on the ground-level
1-18 floor or be accessible from the ground-level floor by an elevator
1-19 with doors that provide an opening of at least 36 [30] inches in
1-20 width;
1-21 (2) doors, entrances, and exits used to enter or leave
1-22 the polling place must have a minimum width of 32 [30] inches;
1-23 (3) any curb adjacent to the main entrance to a
1-24 polling place must have curb cuts or temporary nonslip ramps;
2-1 (4) any stairs necessary to enter or leave the polling
2-2 place must have a handrail on each side of the stairs and a nonslip
2-3 ramp; and
2-4 (5) the polling place may not have a barrier that
2-5 impedes the path of a person with physical disabilities [the
2-6 physically handicapped] to the voting station.
2-7 SECTION 3. Section 174.022(d), Election Code, is amended to
2-8 read as follows:
2-9 (d) The place [location] selected for a precinct convention
2-10 must meet the same requirements for access by the elderly and
2-11 [physically handicapped] persons with physical disabilities as a
2-12 polling place under Section 43.034(a) unless the state executive
2-13 committee for a political party issues an order that the places
2-14 [locations] for precinct conventions for that political party are
2-15 [do] not required [have] to meet the same requirements as a polling
2-16 place under Section 43.034(a). The order must be entered in the
2-17 minutes of the state executive committee not later than the 30th
2-18 day [30 days] before the date precinct conventions are to be held.
2-19 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-20 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.