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.