Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee.

Existing law, the Visually Impaired Voter Assistance Act of 1989, requires the Secretary of State to establish a Visually Impaired Voter Assistance Board and prescribes the composition of the board, as specified. Under existing law the board is required to, among other things, make recommendations to the Secretary of State for improving the availability and accessibility of ballot pamphlet audio recordings and their delivery to visually impaired voters. Existing law also requires the Secretary of State to make available the complete state ballot pamphlet over the Internet, which is required to include specified information. Existing law further authorizes county and city elections officials to establish procedures designed to permit a voter to opt out of receiving his or her sample ballot, voter pamphlet, notice of polling place, and associated materials by mail, and instead obtain them electronically via email or by accessing them on the county's or city's Internet Web site, as specified. This bill would rename the board as the Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee and would instead require the committee to advise the Secretary of State on improving the accessibility of elections, including election materials, as specified, for all voters with disabilities, and would revise the composition of the committee, as specified. The bill would require the Secretary of State to consult with the committee and consider the committee's recommendations, which the Secretary of State could implement at his or her discretion. The bill would also require the committee to make additional recommendations to the Secretary of State for improving the accessibility of election materials made available over the Internet, and would require the elections materials made available over the Internet to meet or exceed certain standards and guidelines, as specified. The bill would further require the committee to make recommendations for providing voters with disabilities the same access and participation as is provided to other voters who are not disabled, including the ability to vote privately and independently.