TITLE: Relating to accepting voters with certain disabilities.

SUMMARY: Relating to accepting voters with certain disabilities.

FULL TEXT:
AN ACT relating to accepting voters with certain disabilities. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Sections 63.0013(b), (c), and (d), Election Code, as added by Chapter 980 (H.B. 658), Acts of the 85th Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, are amended to read as follows: (b) An election officer shall [may] accept a person with a mobility problem that substantially impairs a person's ability to ambulate who is offering to vote before accepting others offering to vote at the polling place who arrived before the person. (c) Notice of the priority given to persons with a mobility problem that substantially impairs a person's ability to ambulate shall be posted: (1) at [one or more locations in] each entrance to a polling place where it can be read by persons waiting to vote; (2) on the Internet website of the secretary of state; and (3) on each Internet website relating to elections maintained by a county. (d) The notice required by Subsection (c) must read: "Pursuant to Section 63.0013, Election Code, an election officer shall [may] give voting order priority to individuals with a mobility problem that substantially impairs the person's ability to move around. A person assisting an individual with a mobility problem may also, at the individual's request, be given voting order priority. Disabilities and conditions that may qualify you for voting order priority include paralysis, lung disease, the use of portable oxygen, cardiac deficiency, severe limitation in the ability to walk due to arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic condition, wheelchair confinement, arthritis, foot disorder, the inability to walk 200 feet without stopping to rest, or use of a brace, cane, crutch, or other assistive device." SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.