NY State Senate Bill 2013-S625

Senate Bill S625

2013-2014 Legislative Session

Directs the Queens county board of elections to provide language assistance in Bengali, Punjabi and Hindi

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Elections Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 08, 2014	referred to elections
Jan 09, 2013	referred to elections

2013-S625 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A1005
Current Committee:: Senate Elections
Law Section:: Election Law
Laws Affected:: Add §3-508, El L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2011-2012: S7402, A9956
2015-2016: S6772, A3074
2017-2018: S3869, A5506
2019-2020: S2789, A4202
2021-2022: S3441, A9271
2023-2024: S1215, A642

2013-S625 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Directs the Queens county board of elections to provide language assistance in Bengali, Punjabi and Hindi.

2013-S625 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                BILL NUMBER:S625

TITLE OF BILL:
An act
to amend the election law, in relation to directing the Queens county
board of elections to provide language assistance in Bengali, Punjabi
and Hindi

PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill directs the Queens county
board of elections to provide written language assistance in Bengali,
Punjabi, and Hindi in order to comply with the Language Assistance
Provisions of Section 203 of the federal voting rights act of 1965
(42(U.S.C 1973aa-1a).

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
The election law is amended by
adding a new section 3-508 which directs the Queens county board of
elections to provide written language assistance in Bengali, Punjabi,
and Hindi.
Since Asian-Indians in Queens County are newly covered under the
Language Assistance Provisions of See. 203 of the Federal Voting
Rights Act and the three most spoken languages among individuals of
Asian-Indian origin are Bengali, Hindi and Punjabi, the Board of
Elections should provide written material in those languages. This
shall include but not be limited to ballots, signs, voter mailings,

employee and volunteer training materiel and information on such
board's website.

The board is also required to produce and distribute throughout the
district a booklet that includes a voter registration form in English
along with, in Bengali, Punjabi, and Hindi, instructions for
registering to vote, instructions for obtaining an absentee ballot,
and a section with general voter information including frequently
asked questions The board may include other languages in the booklet
and website as well.

This act shall take effect on the 120th day

Effective immediately, the addition, amendment or repeal of any rules
or regulations for the implementation of this act on its effective
date are authorized to be made on or before such date.

JUSTIFICATION:
Since Asian-Indians in Queens County are newly covered under
the Language Assistance Provisions of Sec. 203 of the federal Voting
Rights Act, this act will add the three most spoken Asian-Indian
languages to the Queens County ballot.

The data for Queens County indicates Bengali (also known as Bangla),
Punjabi and Hindi speakers, in that order, as the prevalence of those
with limited English proficiency (LEP) in Queens County.(1)

PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This bill was previously introduced.


FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal to state.

EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the 120th day.
Effective immediately, the addition amendment or repeal of any
rules or regulations for the implementation of this act on its
effective date are authorized to be made on or before such date.

FOOTNOTE:
(1) American Community Survey, Public Use Microdate Sample
2005-2009

2013-S625 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                   625

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                               (PREFILED)

                             January 9, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Elections

AN ACT to amend the election law, in relation to  directing  the  Queens
  county  board  of elections to provide language assistance in Bengali,
  Punjabi and Hindi

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  The election law is amended by adding a new section 3-508
to read as follows:
  S 3-508. QUEENS COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS; VOTING MATERIALS IN  BENGA-
LI,  PUNJABI  AND  HINDI.  THE  QUEENS  COUNTY  BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL
PROVIDE WRITTEN LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE IN THE BENGALI,  PUNJABI  AND  HINDI
LANGUAGES PURSUANT TO SECTION TWO HUNDRED THREE OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT
OF  NINETEEN  HUNDRED  SIXTY-FIVE  (42  U.S.C. 1973AA-1A). SUCH LANGUAGE
ASSISTANCE SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, BALLOTS,  SIGNS,  VOTER
MAILINGS,  EMPLOYEE  AND VOLUNTEER TRAINING MATERIALS AND INFORMATION ON
SUCH BOARD'S WEBSITE. IT SHALL ALSO PRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE COUNTYWIDE A
BOOKLET THAT INCLUDES: (A) A VOTER REGISTRATION  FORM  IN  ENGLISH  WITH
INSTRUCTIONS IN BENGALI, PUNJABI AND HINDI; (B) INSTRUCTIONS IN BENGALI,
PUNJABI  AND  HINDI  REGARDING  THE CRITERIA AND APPLICATION PROCESS FOR
OBTAINING AN ABSENTEE BALLOT; AND  (C)  A  SECTION  WITH  GENERAL  VOTER
INFORMATION  IN  BENGALI,  PUNJABI  AND HINDI INCLUDING FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS. SUCH BOARD MAY INCLUDE OTHER LANGUAGES ON ITS WEBSITE AND  IN
SUCH BOOKLET.
  S 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
it  shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
ment and/or repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for the  imple-
mentation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made on
or before such date.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD03938-01-3

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