Senate Bill S3447

2019-2020 Legislative Session

Provides that absentee ballots for all elections shall be made available in Braille, upon request of a blind or visually impaired voter

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly 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

Do you support this bill?

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.
Actions
Votes

co-Sponsors

2019-S3447 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:
A4247
Current Committee:
Assembly Election Law
Law Section:
Election Law
Laws Affected:
Add §7-107, El L; add §2022-a, Ed L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:
2013-2014: A8815
2015-2016: S5085, A2104
2017-2018: S4786, S8775, A4961
2021-2022: S4210

2019-S3447 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that absentee ballots for all elections shall be made available in Braille and large print, upon request of a blind or visually impaired voter no less than 30 days prior to each election day.

2019-S3447 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2019-S3447 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3447
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 7, 2019
                                ___________
 
 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 and the education law, in  relation  to
   making absentee ballots available in Braille and large-print
 
   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  7-107
 to read as follows:
   § 7-107. ABSENTEE BALLOTS IN BRAILLE AND LARGE-PRINT TO BE MADE AVAIL-
 ABLE.    1. ABSENTEE BALLOTS PRINTED IN BRAILLE AND LARGE-PRINT SHALL BE
 MADE AVAILABLE UPON THE REQUEST OF ANY REGISTERED VOTER WHO IS BLIND  OR
 VISUALLY  IMPAIRED.    PERSONS WISHING TO RECEIVE BRAILLE OR LARGE-PRINT
 ABSENTEE BALLOTS MUST GIVE NOTICE THEREOF TO THE BOARD OF  ELECTIONS  NO
 LESS  THAN THIRTY DAYS PRIOR TO EACH ELECTION DAY TO ENABLE THE BOARD TO
 PREPARE AND DISTRIBUTE SUCH BALLOTS.
   2. THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL PROMULGATE RULES FOR THE  PREPA-
 RATION,  DISTRIBUTION,  CASTING,  AND CANVASS OF BRAILLE AND LARGE-PRINT
 ABSENTEE BALLOTS.   THE STATE  BOARD  OF  ELECTIONS  SHALL  DEVELOP  THE
 INITIAL  FORMAT FOR BOTH BRAILLE AND LARGE-PRINT BALLOTS IN CONSULTATION
 WITH AT LEAST THREE NEW YORK STATE ORGANIZATIONS WITH EXPERTISE  IN  THE
 FIELD  OF ADVOCACY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND SUCH OTHER APPROPRI-
 ATE PERSONS, GROUPS, ENTITIES OR ORGANIZATIONS AS  THE  STATE  BOARD  OF
 ELECTIONS  SHALL  DETERMINE.  FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS SECTION, "BRAILLE"
 REFERS TO GRADE TWO BRAILLE AND "LARGE-PRINT" REFERS TO A FONT OF  EIGH-
 TEEN  POINT OR LARGER.  UPON THE PRINTING OF A BRAILLE BALLOT, THE BOARD
 OF ELECTIONS SHALL REQUIRE SUCH BRAILLE BALLOT  TO  BE  PROOFREAD  BY  A
 QUALIFIED  BRAILLE READER.  THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS SHALL ESTABLISH
 THE MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS FOR A BRAILLE BALLOT PROOFREADER IN CONSULTA-
 TION WITH AT LEAST THREE NEW YORK STATE ORGANIZATIONS WITH EXPERTISE  IN
 THE FIELD OF ADVOCACY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND SUCH OTHER APPRO-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD07402-01-9

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.