BILL NUMBER: S8471
SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the election law, in relation to requiring facsimile
ballots and sample ballots to be provided in additional languages
 
PURPOSE:
To ensure that all election-related materials, including sample ballots
and facsimile ballots, are provided to non-English speaking and Limited
English Proficiency voters, thereby creating meaningful access to the
electoral process in covered languages.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 2 of section 17-208 of the election law to
include sample ballots and facsimile ballots in the list of materials
required to be provided by boards of elections to particular language-
minority groups.
Section 2 provides for an effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, and every eligible
voter must be able to participate fully and meaningfully in the elec-
toral process, regardless of their English proficiency or the language
that they speak.
While state and federal law already mandate some level of language
assistance in jurisdictions with large language minority populations,
there are gaps in the availability of certain election materials in
languages other than English. These gaps create barriers for language-
minority voters.
The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York requires boards of
elections to provide translated voting materials to language-minority
groups in a quality equal to that of the corresponding English language
materials, including ballots. However, sample ballots and facsimile
ballots were not explicitly included in these requirements.
This legislation includes sample ballots and facsimile ballots in the
list of election materials that shall be provided to language-minority
voters. This will allow language-minority voters to better understand
how their ballot will be formatted and what offices and proposals are on
their ballot. This ultimately will increase turnout among this popu-
lation, allowing language-minority voters to fully participate in the
democratic process.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill shall take effect 180 days after it shall have become law and
shall apply to elections occurring on and after such date.

Statutes affected:
S8471: 17-208 election law, 17-208(2) election law