II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 511

To amend the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act

to ensure the equal right of individuals with disabilities to vote, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 2, 1999

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Rules and Administration

A BILL

To amend the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act to ensure the equal right of individuals with

disabilities to vote, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. AMENDMENT OF VOTING ACCESSIBILITY FOR

4 THE ELDERLY AND HANDICAPPED ACT.

5 (a) PURPOSE.—Section 2 of the Voting Accessibility

6 for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee)

7 is amended by—

8 (1) striking ‘‘It’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) It’’; and

9 (2) adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(b) It is the intention of Congress in enacting this

2 Act to ensure that—

3 ‘‘(1) no individual may be denied the right to

4 vote in a Federal election on the basis of being dis5 abled; and

6 ‘‘(2) every voter has the right to vote independ7 ently in a Federal election.’’.

8 (b) ACCESSIBILITY OF POLLING PLACES.—Section 3

9 of the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi10 capped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee–1) is amended—

11 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘each political

12 subdivision’’ and all that follows through ‘‘conduct13 ing elections’’ and inserting ‘‘the chief election offi14 cer of the State’’;

15 (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the

16 following:

17 ‘‘(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to a polling place

18 in the case of any unforeseeable natural disaster such as

19 a fire, storm, earthquake, or flood.’’; and

20 (3) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the

21 following:

22 ‘‘(c) The chief election officer of a State shall ensure

23 that all polling methods selected and used for Federal elec24 tions are accessible to disabled and elderly voters,

25 including—
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1 ‘‘(1) the provision of ballots in a variety of ac2 cessible media;

3 ‘‘(2) the provision of instructions that are print4 ed in large type, conspicuously displayed at each

5 polling place;

6 ‘‘(3) the provision of printed information that is

7 generally available to other voters using a variety of

8 accessible media; and

9 ‘‘(4) ensuring that all polling methods used en10 able disabled and elderly voters to cast votes at poll11 ing places during times and under conditions of pri12 vacy available to other voters.’’.

13 (c) ACCESSIBILITY OF REGISTRATION FACILITIES

14 AND SERVICES.—Section 5(a) of the Voting Accessibility

15 for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee–

16 3(a)) is amended—

17 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the

18 end; and

19 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the

20 following:

21 ‘‘(2) registration information by telecommuni22 cations devices for the deaf and in a variety of acces23 sible media; and
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1 ‘‘(3) accessible registration procedures to allow

2 each eligible voter to register at the residence of the

3 voter, by mail, or by other means.’’.

4 (d) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 6 of the Voting Acces5 sibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C.

6 1973ee–4) is amended—

7 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘45’’ and in8 serting ‘‘21’’; and

9 (2) by striking subsection (c) and inserting the

10 following:

11 ‘‘(c) In an action brought under subsection (a), the

12 State or political subdivision shall be fined an amount—

13 ‘‘(1) not to exceed $5,000 for the first violation

14 of such section; and

15 ‘‘(2) not to exceed $10,000 for each subsequent

16 violation.’’.

17 (e) RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER LAWS.—Section 7

18 of the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi19 capped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee–5) is amended—

20 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘VOTING RIGHTS

21 ACT OF 1965’’ and inserting ‘‘OTHER LAWS;

22 (2) by striking ‘‘This’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) This’’;

23 and

24 (3) by adding at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(b) Nothing in this Act shall be construed to invali2 date or limit the laws of any State or political subdivision

3 that provide greater or equal access to registration or poll4 ing for disabled and elderly voters.’’.

5 (f) DEFINITIONS.—Section 8 of the Voting Acces6 sibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C.

7 1973ee–6) is amended—

8 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘chief elec9 tion’’ through ‘‘involved’’ and inserting ‘‘Access

10 Board’’;

11 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘permanent

12 physical disability; and’’ and inserting ‘‘permanent

13 disability;’’;

14 (3) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and

15 inserting a semicolon; and

16 (4) by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(6) ‘Access Board’ means the Architectural

18 and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board es19 tablished under section 502 of the Rehabilitation Act

20 of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 792);

21 ‘‘(7) ‘chief election officer’ means the State offi22 cer or entity, designated by State law or established

23 by practice, responsible for elections within the

24 State;
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1 ‘‘(8) ‘independently’ means without the assist2 ance of another individual; and

3 ‘‘(9) ‘media’ includes formats using large type,

4 braille, sound recording, or digital text.’’.

5 (g) REFERENCES.—

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Voting Accessibility for

7 the Elderly and Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee

8 et seq.) is amended by striking ‘‘handicapped’’ each

9 place it appears and inserting ‘‘disabled’’.

10 (2) REFERENCES IN OTHER LAWS.—Except

11 where inappropriate, any reference to ‘‘handicapped’’

12 in relation to the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly

13 and Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee et seq.) in

14 any law, Executive Order, rule, or other document

15 shall include a reference to ‘‘disabled’’.

16 (h) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 502(b)(3)

17 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 792(b)(3))

18 is amended by inserting before the semicolon ‘‘and section

19 3 of the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handi20 capped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee–1)’’.

21 SEC. 2. REGULATIONS.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the

23 date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall

24 promulgate regulations implementing this Act. Such regu-
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1 lations shall be consistent with the minimum guidelines

2 established by the Access Board.

3 (b) ACCESS BOARD GUIDELINES.—Not later than 9

4 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Access

5 Board shall issue minimum guidelines relating to the re6 quirements in the amendments made by section 1(b) of

7 this Act.

8 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Access

9 Board’’ means the Architectural and Transportation Bar10 riers Compliance Board.

11 SEC. 3. TRANSITION PLAN.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 months after the

13 date on which regulations are promulgated under section

14 2(a), the chief election officer of each State shall develop

15 a transition plan to ensure that polling places in the State

16 are in compliance with the requirements of the Voting Ac17 cessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act (42

18 U.S.C. 1973ee et seq.), as amended by this Act.

19 (b) COORDINATION WITH LOCAL ELECTION OFFI20 CIALS.—The plan under subsection (a) shall be developed

21 in coordination with—

22 (1) local election officials; and

23 (2) individuals with disabilities or organizations

24 representing individuals with disabilities.
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1 (c) CONTENTS AND AVAILABILITY OF PLAN.—The

2 plan under subsection (a) shall—

3 (1) include specific recommendations necessary

4 to comply with the requirements of the Voting Ac5 cessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act; and

6 (2) be available for public inspection in such

7 manner as the chief election officer determines ap8 propriate.

9 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

10 The amendments made by section 1 of this Act shall

11 apply beginning on the earliest of—

12 (1) the date that is 6 months after the date on

13 which regulations are promulgated under section

14 2(a); or

15 (2) the date of the first Federal election taking

16 place in the State after December 31, 2000.

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