1-1 By: Danburg, Uresti (Senate Sponsor - Shapleigh) H.B. No. 1545
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 1999;
1-3 May 12, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State
1-4 Affairs; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to accessibility standards at polling places and precinct
1-9 convention places for the elderly and persons with physical
1-10 disabilities.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. The heading of Section 43.034, Election Code, is
1-13 amended to read as follows:
1-14 Sec. 43.034. ACCESSIBILITY OF POLLING PLACE TO THE ELDERLY
1-15 AND PERSONS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES [PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED].
1-16 SECTION 2. Section 43.034(a), Election Code, is amended to
1-17 read as follows:
1-18 (a) Each polling place shall be accessible to and usable by
1-19 the elderly and persons with physical disabilities [physically
1-20 handicapped]. To be considered accessible, a polling place must
1-21 meet the standards established under Article 9102, Revised
1-22 Statutes, including the following standards:
1-23 (1) the polling place must be on the ground-level
1-24 floor or be accessible from the ground-level floor by an elevator
1-25 with doors that provide an opening of at least 36 [30] inches in
1-26 width;
1-27 (2) doors, entrances, and exits used to enter or leave
1-28 the polling place must have a minimum width of 32 [30] inches;
1-29 (3) any curb adjacent to the main entrance to a
1-30 polling place must have curb cuts or temporary nonslip ramps;
1-31 (4) any stairs necessary to enter or leave the polling
1-32 place must have a handrail on each side of the stairs and a nonslip
1-33 ramp; and
1-34 (5) the polling place may not have a barrier that
1-35 impedes the path of a person with physical disabilities [the
1-36 physically handicapped] to the voting station.
1-37 SECTION 3. Section 174.022(d), Election Code, is amended to
1-38 read as follows:
1-39 (d) The place [location] selected for a precinct convention
1-40 must meet the same requirements for access by the elderly and
1-41 [physically handicapped] persons with physical disabilities as a
1-42 polling place under Section 43.034(a) unless the state executive
1-43 committee for a political party issues an order that the places
1-44 [locations] for precinct conventions for that political party are
1-45 [do] not required [have] to meet the same requirements as a polling
1-46 place under Section 43.034(a). The order must be entered in the
1-47 minutes of the state executive committee not later than the 30th
1-48 day [30 days] before the date precinct conventions are to be held.
1-49 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-50 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
1-51 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-52 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-53 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-54 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-55 * * * * *