By Danburg                                            H.B. No. 1546
         76R4899 DRH-F                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the order of parties, names, and propositions on a
 1-3     ballot to accommodate voters with visual impairments.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 52, Election Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Section 52.096 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 52.096.  ACCOMMODATION FOR VOTERS WITH VISUAL
 1-8     IMPAIRMENTS.  To comply with Section 504 of the federal
 1-9     Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794) and its
1-10     subsequent amendments and Title II of the federal Americans with
1-11     Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. Section 12131 et seq.)  and its
1-12     subsequent amendments and to enable a voter with a visual
1-13     impairment to cast a secret ballot, the secretary of state shall
1-14     prescribe procedures to allow for the rotation of the order of
1-15     parties, names, and propositions on the ballot.
1-16           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
1-17           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-18     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-19     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-20     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-21     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.