1999 Florida Code
TITLE IX ELECTORS AND ELECTIONS
Chapter 101 Voting Methods and Procedure  
101.715   Accessibility of polling places to the elderly and physically handicapped.

101.715  Accessibility of polling places to the elderly and physically handicapped.--

(1)  Each polling place shall be accessible to, and usable by, elderly persons and by physically handicapped persons by complying, when necessary, with the following standards of accessibility:

(a)  Doors, entrances, and exits used to gain access to, or egress from, the polling place shall have a minimum width of 29 inches.

(b)  Any curb adjacent to the main entrance to a polling place shall have curb cuts or temporary ramps.

(c)  Any stairs necessarily used to enter the polling place shall have a temporary handrail and ramp.

(d)  At the polling place, no barrier shall impede the path of the physically handicapped to the voting booth.

(2)  Polling places which are of a temporary nature are exempt from compliance with s. 255.21.

(3)  Each supervisor of elections shall only select as polling places, sites which meet the standards of accessibility prescribed in subsection (1), except that the supervisor may select a site not meeting the standards if:

(a)  No acceptable and accessible site exists within the precinct or other designated voting area; and

(b)  It is anticipated that the site will be brought into compliance with such standards in the foreseeable future, or the site will be temporarily made to comply with the standards for the time during which the polls are open.

(4)  Any supervisor of elections who selects as a polling place a site which does not meet the standards prescribed in subsection (1) shall report such selection to the board of county commissioners. The report shall expressly state that the supervisor has determined that such polling place can be made accessible to, and usable by, elderly persons and by physically handicapped persons in the foreseeable future by affirmative governmental action.

(5)  Each board of county commissioners which receives a report from a supervisor pursuant to subsection (4) shall take affirmative action to bring the selected polling place into compliance with the standards prescribed in subsection (1).

(6)  Each district school board and each municipality shall cooperate with the board of county commissioners in its respective county in implementing the provisions of this section.

History.--s. 1, ch. 76-50.