Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 812-A – Accessible voting system
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1. Accessible voting system at each polling place. The Secretary of State, in compliance with the voting accessibility requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, shall provide one direct recording electronic voting machine, or other accessible voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities, for use at each polling place used in the conduct of state elections. Such machines must produce permanent paper records that provide a manual audit capacity for the machines and must also provide voters with audio functions that enable the voters to verify their ballots aurally before the votes are cast, and all such machines must meet the requirements of section 812, subsection 10 unless the Secretary of State is unable to procure machines that the Secretary of State determines are adequate to meet the requirements of this section and section 812 in time to comply with the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Additional accessible voting machines may be used in the conduct of state elections, but those machines must meet the requirements set forth in section 812.
[PL 2007, c. 455, §52 (AMD).]
Terms Used In Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 812-A
- Accessible voting system: means a voting system that is accessible for individuals with disabilities, including nonvisual accessibility for the blind and visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity for access and participation, including privacy and independence, as for other voters. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 808
- Candidate: means any person who has filed a petition under either sections 335 and 336 or sections 354 and 355 and has qualified as a candidate by either procedure, or any person who has received contributions or made expenditures or has given consent for any other person to receive contributions or make expenditures with the intent of qualifying as a candidate. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- Declared write-in candidate: means a write-in candidate who has filed a declaration to be a write-in candidate pursuant to section 722?A. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- Direct recording electronic voting machine: means a system that records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical, electro-optical or electro-audio components that can be activated by the voter, that processes data by means of a computer program and that records voting data in memory components. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 808
- may: when used in this Title, is used in a permissive sense to grant authority or permission, but not to create duty, to act in the manner specified by the context. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 7
- Voter: means a person registered to vote. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 1
- Voting system: means the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical or electronic equipment, including the software, firmware and documentation required to program, control and support the equipment, that is used to define or produce ballots, to cast and count votes, to report or display election results and to maintain and produce any audit trail information. See Maine Revised Statutes Title 21-A Sec. 808
2. Moratorium.
[PL 2003, c. 651, §8 (NEW); MRSA T. 21-A §812-A, sub-§2 (RP).]
3. Accessible feature for casting write-in vote. As an accommodation for persons with disabilities, the audio ballot for the accessible voting system under subsection 1 may be programmed to provide an aural presentation of the names of any declared write-in candidates at the end of the list of candidates whose names were listed on the printed ballot so that the voter may cast a vote for a declared write-in candidate in the same manner as voting for a listed candidate. If there is no declared write-in candidate for an office, the audio ballot may provide aural instructions to that effect.
[PL 2009, c. 253, §53 (NEW).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 2003, c. 651, §8 (NEW). PL 2005, c. 445, §2 (AMD). PL 2007, c. 455, §52 (AMD). PL 2009, c. 253, §53 (AMD).