HBA-NRS H.B. 3221 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3221
By: Madden
Elections
3/19/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The formation, after the 76th Legislature, of the Task Force on Accessible
Voting (task force) under the oversight of the elections division of the
Office of the Secretary of State was designed to ensure that secrecy in
balloting and equal access to voting equipment were being provided to the
physically disabled in accordance with the federal Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 and the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The
task force produced standards for certifying that a voting system is
accessible to the physically disabled. These standards were adopted and
recorded in the Texas Administrative Code. House Bill 3221 codifies these
existing standards for voting accessibility, including the use of
alternative voting systems, in the Election Code. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 3221 amends the Election Code to provide that a new voting
system acquired by a political subdivision must be accessible to persons
with physical disabilities and provide the voter with a practical and
effective means to cast an independent and secret ballot (Sec. 129.002).
The bill authorizes a political subdivision to use more than one type of
voting system in a single polling place only to provide to a person with a
physical disability a method of casting an independent and secret ballot
(Sec. 129.003).  

The bill authorizes a political subdivision to use certain alternative
methods for providing a secret and independent ballot to persons with
physical disabilities (Sec. 129.021). The bill authorizes and sets forth
provisions for the use of a paper or optical scan ballot template with the
use of a telephone or audiotape system to allow visually-impaired or
reading-impaired voters to vote independently through the use of touch.
(Sec. 129.022).  

The bill sets forth procedures authorizing a political subdivision using a
punch-card or lever machine system to use either a telephone or audiotape
system to instruct voters with physical disabilities on the procedures for
reading and marking ballots (Sec. 129.023).  

The bill provides that telephones used with alternative voting systems must
be equipped with headsets to allow voters to have their hands free to hold
the ballot and template steady and accurately mark the ballot through the
template (129.024). The bill authorizes the secretary of state to adopt
procedures to provide for the approval of minor variations in alternative
voting systems (Sec. 129.026). 

The bill requires a political subdivision to make a voting system
accessible to voters with physical disabilities in accordance with the
standards for accessibility specified in the bill (Sec. 129.042).   



 EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.