SECTION 1. Chapter 17-19 of the General Laws entitled "Conduct of Election and Voting Equipment, and Supplies" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

17-19-8.2. State-of-the-art voting technology. -- Given the development of the necessary state-of-the-art technology and the potential availability of federal funds, the secretary of state, as mandated by section 17-19-8.1, shall expand the special ballot service to as wide a range of voters with disabilities as possible. Accordingly, the secretary of state shall begin the process for the purchase of state-of-the-art voting equipment which can accommodate not only voters who are blind or visually impaired but also persons with other disabilities and afford all voters who are blind, visually impaired or disabled the opportunity to cast their ballot independently.

The ballot for the new voting equipment must be created from the same database used to create the ballot for the state's current optical scan precinct count system. Votes cast on the new voting equipment must be capable of being integrated into the state's current optical scan precinct count system by the board of elections. Duties and responsibilities with respect to ballot creation and preparation and maintenance of the integrated voting equipment would be delegated to the secretary of state and the state board of elections in substantially the same manner as outlined in subsection 17-19-3(b).

Funding for the procurement of said technology for each polling place shall be through federal funds appropriated to the state of Rhode Island pursuant to election reform legislation adopted by congress in 2002.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage, but shall be repealed on June 30, 2005 if the necessary federal funding is not received by that date.

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