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Senate Bill S8471

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Requires facsimile ballots and sample ballots to be provided in additional languages

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Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

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2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Rules
Law Section:
Election Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §17-208, El L

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires a board of elections or political subdivision that is required to provide language assistance to a particular language-minority group to provide facsimile ballots and sample ballots in such language.

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf 

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8471
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              August 6, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  LIU  --  read  twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the election law, in  relation  to  requiring  facsimile
   ballots and sample ballots to be provided in additional languages
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 17-208 of  the  election  law,  as
 added by chapter 226 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  Language  assistance to be provided. A board of elections or poli-
 tical subdivision required to provide language assistance to  a  partic-
 ular  language-minority  group  pursuant  to  this section shall provide
 voting materials in the covered language of  an  equal  quality  of  the
 corresponding  English  language  materials,  including  registration or
 voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other  materials  or
 information  relating  to  the  electoral  process,  including  ballots,
 FACSIMILE BALLOTS, AND SAMPLE  BALLOTS.    Any  registration  or  voting
 notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other materials or informa-
 tion  relating  to  the  electoral process, including ballots, FACSIMILE
 BALLOTS, AND SAMPLE BALLOTS, in a covered political  subdivision,  shall
 be provided in the language of the applicable language-minority group as
 well as in the English language, provided that where the language of the
 applicable  language-minority  group  is historically oral or unwritten,
 the board of elections or political subdivision shall only  be  required
 to  furnish oral instructions, assistance, or other information relating
 to registration and voting.
   § 2.  This act shall take effect on  the  one  hundred  eightieth  day
 after  it  shall  have become a law and shall apply to elections held on
 and after such effective date.   Effective  immediately,  the  addition,
 amendment  and/or  repeal  of  any  rule or regulation necessary for the
 implementation of this act on its effective date are  authorized  to  be
 made and completed on or before such effective date.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13514-01-5

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