SB2503eng 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB2503 Engrossed LRB093 17928 JAM 43611 b

AN ACT concerning voting technology.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Accessible Voting Technology for the Blind Act of 2004.

Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:

"Access" means all of the following:

(1) The ability to retrieve all of the information contained in the ballot.

(2) The ability to retrieve any instructional information necessary for the effective casting of the ballot, in the form of audible prompts, online help, recorded materials, knowledgeable officials, or other appropriate methods.

(3) The ability to make and verify all selections contained in the ballot, including write in selections.

(4) The ability to move freely through all the information contained in paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), including, but not limited to, the ability to move both forward and backward through all items and the ability to skip items.

"Privacy" means the same level of secrecy of the ballot and voting process which is accorded to all voters, using visual and nonvisual means.

"Nonvisual" means methods of retrieving information, such as synthesized speech, Braille, or other methods, that do not require sight.

Section 10. Requirements for accessible voting technology and systems.

(a) The State Board of Elections shall require (by certification or otherwise) that the voting technology and systems used by the State or any political subdivision provide blind and visually impaired individuals with access and privacy, which is equivalent to that provided to individuals who are not blind or visually impaired, including the ability for the voter to cast and verify all selections made by both visual and nonvisual means.

(b) In requiring nonvisual access and determining appropriate methods and systems for providing it pursuant to subsection (a), the State Board of Elections shall obtain recommendations from representatives of blind consumer organizations, experts in accessible software and hardware design, and any other individual or organization the Board determines to be appropriate.

Section 15. Technology and systems compliance.

(a) Compliance with this Act in regard to voting technology and systems purchased prior to the effective date of this Act shall be achieved at the time of procurement of an upgrade or replacement of the existing equipment or systems.

(b) Voting technology and systems purchased after the effective date of this Act must meet or exceed the standards set by the Federal Elections Commission on April 30, 2002.

Section 20. Compliance with federal law; rule making authority. The State Board of Elections shall promulgate any rules necessary for the implementation of this Act, provided that the rules comport with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, P.L. 107-252, in all relevant respects and that recommendations from representatives of consumer organizations of the blind shall be considered.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.