(1) The Secretary of State is empowered under the Voting Accessibility Act, 13-1-202, MCA, and these rules to:

(a) establish guidelines that define and determine accessibility at the polling place;

(b) prescribe the forms and materials necessary to ensure uniformity in the surveying of polling places;

(c) determine what constitutes an emergency that allows an exemption from accessibility status;

(d) grant exemptions to the requirement that a polling place shall be accessible to the elderly and individuals with disabilities;

(e) establish procedures to ensure that any individual with a disability or elderly voter assigned to an inaccessible polling place will be provided with an alternative means for casting a ballot on election day;

(f) provide public notice, calculated to reach individuals with disabilities or elderly electors in a timely manner, of the:

(i) availability of aids under the Voting Accessibility Act;

(ii) assistance under section 208 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 aa-6); and

(iii) procedures for voting by absentee ballot; and

(g) report to the applicable federal agency, in a manner to be determined by the agency:

(i) the number of accessible polling places in the state;

(ii) the number of inaccessible polling places; and

(iii) the reasons for each instance of inaccessibility.

(2) These are the rules adopted to establish and maintain uniformity in the implementation of the Voting Accessibility Act.