A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the county board of voter registration and elections in each county of the state is encouraged to make every polling place barrier free and shall provide at least one polling place, free of architectural barriers, which shall be known as the Countywide Barrier-Free Voting Precinct, for use by physically handicapped electors of the county. Such polling place may be within any existing polling place that now is barrier-free or that is made barrier-free. Any physically handicapped elector, regardless of his place of residence in the county, may vote in this polling place if he meets the following criteria:

(1) Elector either cannot ambulate without the aid of a wheelchair, leg braces, crutches or a walker, or elector suffers from a lung disease to such an extent that he is unable to walk without the aid of a respirator.

(2) Elector has applied in writing to and obtained from the county board of voter registration and elections thirty days before the election a voting registration transfer authorizing the elector to vote at the county barrier-free polling place. An elector whose physical handicap, as defined in item (1) of this subsection, is permanent, as certified by a licensed physician, is not required to register once he has done so initially under the provisions of this item.

B. For every election the State Election Commission shall furnish to the proper county or party officials a separate roster of those handicapped electors registered to vote at the barrier-free polling place, and the county election officials shall ensure that election managers are designated to staff the barrier-free polling place. Such roster shall also contain appropriate precinct and district references for each voter when practical and reasonable.

C. The county board of voter registration and elections shall be authorized to use paper ballots in lieu of voting machines in the Countywide Barrier-Free Voting Precinct in those counties where voting machines are used.

D. When the Countywide Barrier-Free Voting Precinct in the respective counties closes, the votes of the Countywide Barrier-Free Voting Precinct shall be tabulated and reported as a separate precinct when other ballots of the county are counted on election day.

E. The provisions of this section shall only apply to elections conducted by the county board of voter registration and elections or county executive committee of a political party and are in lieu of voting by absentee ballot.

HISTORY: 1982 Act No. 363, eff May 11, 1982; 1992 Act No. 494, Section 1, eff July 1, 1992.