Signed by Governor Greg Gianforte

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill requires election officials provide accessible locations for disabled voters during elections conducted by mail.

Highlights:

• Classifies "disability" as a temporary or permanent mental or physical impairment such as (Sec. 1-12):

• Impaired vision;

• Impaired hearing;

• Impaired mobility; or

• Impaired mental or physical functioning that makes it difficult for the person to participate in the process of voting.

• Authorizes the elector to provide a fingerprint or an identifying mark or request that an agent, election administrator, or election judge sign for the elector whenever a signature is required by an elector and the elector is unable because of a disability to provide a signature (Sec. 2-2).

• Prohibits the individual designated as an elector's agent from being the elector's employer, an agent of the elector's employer, or an officer or agent of the elector's union (Sec. 2-4.a).

• Requires the secretary of state to advise and assist election administrators, including administrators of school elections with regard to (Sec. 3-1):

• The application, operation, and interpretation of Title 13, except for chapter 35, 36, or 37;

• The implementation and operation of the National Voter Registration Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, and the Help America Vote Act; and

• The procedures adopted pursuant to 13-17-211.

• Prohibits a county from charging a political subdivision or school district for the purchase or routine maintenance of a voter interface device. However, the county may charge for the cost of programming a device for the election and for replacement, repairs, or maintenance required due to the political subdivision or school district's use of the device (Sec. 4-4).

• Requires the county to provide the school district with an estimate of costs for each county voter interface device to be used for the election before finalizing a contract to conduct a school election. When a school district is conducting its own election, the school district will request from the county an estimate of the cost for using a county voter interface device. The county will provide the estimate within 30 days of receiving the school district’s request (Sec. 4-5).

• Establishes a voter interface device is not required in the following circumstances (Sec. 9.c):

• If there are fewer than 200 registered electors eligible to vote in the election; or

• For an irrigation district election.

• Authorizes an elector able to come to the premises where a polling place is located but unable to enter the polling place because of a disability to contact the election administrator before coming to the premises and request that a ballot be delivered to the elector outside the building where the polling place is located. The chief election judge will appoint 2 election judges who, if possible, represent different political parties to take the ballot to the elector (Sec. 12-1).

Full Bill Text