NY State Senate Bill 2025-S8471

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules 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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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Aug 06, 2025	referred to rules

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

                                 
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.

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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Senate Bill S8471

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments

Senate Bill S8471

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Sponsored By

John C. Liu

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S8471 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments