| 1 | 1 | | 86R13131 SRS-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Bucy H.B. No. 3351 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to accepting voters with certain disabilities. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Sections 63.0013(b), (c), and (d), Election |
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| 10 | 10 | | Code, as added by Chapter 980 (H.B. 658), Acts of the 85th |
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| 11 | 11 | | Legislature, Regular Session, 2017, are amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (b) An election officer shall [may] accept a person with a |
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| 13 | 13 | | mobility problem that substantially impairs a person's ability to |
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| 14 | 14 | | ambulate who is offering to vote before accepting others offering |
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| 15 | 15 | | to vote at the polling place who arrived before the person. |
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| 16 | 16 | | (c) Notice of the priority given to persons with a mobility |
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| 17 | 17 | | problem that substantially impairs a person's ability to ambulate |
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| 18 | 18 | | shall be posted: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (1) at [one or more locations in] each entrance to a |
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| 20 | 20 | | polling place where it can be read by persons waiting to vote; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (2) on the Internet website of the secretary of state; |
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| 22 | 22 | | and |
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| 23 | 23 | | (3) on each Internet website relating to elections |
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| 24 | 24 | | maintained by a county. |
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| 25 | 25 | | (d) The notice required by Subsection (c) must read: |
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| 26 | 26 | | "Pursuant to Section 63.0013, Election Code, an election officer |
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| 27 | 27 | | shall [may] give voting order priority to individuals with a |
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| 28 | 28 | | mobility problem that substantially impairs the person's ability to |
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| 29 | 29 | | move around. A person assisting an individual with a mobility |
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| 30 | 30 | | problem may also, at the individual's request, be given voting |
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| 31 | 31 | | order priority. Disabilities and conditions that may qualify you |
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| 32 | 32 | | for voting order priority include paralysis, lung disease, the use |
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| 33 | 33 | | of portable oxygen, cardiac deficiency, severe limitation in the |
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| 34 | 34 | | ability to walk due to arthritic, neurological, or orthopedic |
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| 35 | 35 | | condition, wheelchair confinement, arthritis, foot disorder, the |
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| 36 | 36 | | inability to walk 200 feet without stopping to rest, or use of a |
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| 37 | 37 | | brace, cane, crutch, or other assistive device." |
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| 38 | 38 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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