By Danburg                                            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.