Elections: access for voters with disabilities.

(1) Existing law requires elections officials to furnish each polling place with specified supplies for an election. This bill would expand the list of required supplies to include specified items to assist voters with disabilities. (2) Existing law restricts who may be within the voting booth area and who may occupy a voting both or compartment. Existing law allows a voter, after declaring under oath before a member of the precinct board that the voter is unable to mark a ballot, to receive assistance of up to two persons selected by the voter, as specified. This bill would eliminate the requirement that the voter issue a declaration under oath before receiving assistance, as specified. (3) In certain inaccessible polling places, existing law allows a voter with a disability to appear outside the polling place and vote by regular ballot. Where it is impractical to vote a regular ballot outside the polling place, existing law requires vote by mail ballots to be provided in sufficient numbers to accommodate voters with disabilities who present themselves on election day, and authorizes a voter with a disability to vote a vote by mail ballot in the same manner as a regular ballot may be voted by that person outside the polling place. This bill would expand that authority to allow a voter with a disability to vote by regular ballot outside any polling place, regardless of whether the polling place is inaccessible. The bill would require the posting of signage in specified areas indicating that the option is available for a voter with a disability to vote there, and the establishment of a method for a voter with a disability to contact a precinct board member in order to vote outside the polling place. The bill would require elections officials to include information regarding this option in the county elections internet website and the county voter information guide. (4) By imposing additional duties on local elections officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.