Bill
HB 317
HB 317 creates a four-year curbside voting pilot in three counties to test outdoor in-person voting for disabled, mobility-limited, and elderly voters, with rules and reporting.
Status: Hearing 3/27 at 1:00 p.m.
Introduced: (version) January 10, 2025; effective date (if enacted) October 1, 2025; program terminates September 30, 2029.
Report due: State Board of Elections (SBE) must report to the General Assembly by September 1, 2029.
Purpose
- Establish a time‑limited Curbside Voting Pilot Program to test the viability of providing curbside (outdoor) in‑person voting as an accommodation primarily for voters with disabilities, voters with limited mobility, and elderly voters.
Key provisions
- Pilot scope: SBE will select three counties — one each with comparatively small, medium, and large numbers of registered voters — to implement the pilot.
- Location designation: At least six months before each statewide primary, each participating county’s local board must designate:
- During early voting: one early voting center or other building; and
- On Election Day: the local board office (or, if impracticable, one polling place or another appropriate building).
- Accessibility considerations: Local boards must consider accessibility to historically disenfranchised communities, proximity to dense voter populations, public transportation access, and ways to maximize participation (e.g., community centers).
- Operations and voter experience:
- Curbside voting must be available to any registered voter on request during hours early voting centers/polling places are open.
- Voters check in at the curbside location via pollbook information provided to an election judge.
- Voters may choose to (a) mark a paper ballot (and deposit it in a container) or (b) use a ballot‑marking device (BMD) brought outside by an election judge.
- Locations must allow voters to complete ballots without assistance unless requested, and preserve ballot secrecy.
- Signage must indicate curbside voting locations and how to notify an election judge; election judges must provide prompt service.
- Electioneering boundaries: SBE regulations will require lines/boundaries around curbside locations and cars in line where canvassing/electioneering is prohibited; where possible these should be within existing electioneering boundaries.
- Voting systems: SBE may not certify a voting system for use unless it determines the system accommodates curbside voting for the pilot program.
- Rulemaking and oversight: SBE must adopt regulations to implement the pilot and will report findings to the General Assembly by Sept. 1, 2029. The program automatically sunsets Sept. 30, 2029.
Who is affected
- Primary beneficiaries: voters with disabilities, limited mobility, and elderly voters (but available to any registered voter on request during the pilot).
- Election administrators: SBE, local boards of elections, and election judges responsible for planning, staffing, equipment (e.g., portable BMDs), signage, and pollbook procedures.
- Voting system vendors: certification must account for curbside accommodations.
Fiscal impact (from fiscal note)
- State general fund expenditures increase by at least:
- $249,000 in FY 2026
- $257,000 in FY 2027
- Similar increases (~$261,000–$266,000) in FY 2028–FY 2029
- Local government expenditures increase by at least:
- $167,000 in FY 2026
- At least $160,000 in FY 2027–FY 2029
- Revenues unaffected. These amounts reflect start‑up and operational costs (staffing, equipment, outreach, etc.) to run the pilot; exact costs depend on local implementation choices.
Procedural/timeline notes
- Effective date (as drafted): October 1, 2025.
- Local boards must select curbside locations at least six months before each statewide primary.
- SBE must promulgate implementing regulations and provide a final implementation report by Sept. 1, 2029.
- The pilot is temporary and expires September 30, 2029.
Bottom line
HB 317 creates a four‑year, three‑county pilot to test curbside in‑person voting procedures and equipment, emphasizing accessibility for voters with disabilities and limited mobility. It sets operational standards (check‑in, ballot options, secrecy, electioneering boundaries), requires SBE rulemaking and a final report, and entails modest but measurable state and local costs to implement and evaluate the pilot.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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