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Directs the Queens county board of elections to provide language assistance in Bengali, Punjabi and Hindi
In Assembly Committee · Election Law · Sponsor David Weprin
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
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
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.0 1973aa-la).
Summary of provisions
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.0 1973aa-la).
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 Begali, 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 require to produce and distribute throughout the district a booklet which 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 after it shall have become law.
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} .
Legislative history
Old bill S.625 of 2014, referred to Election Law 1-8-14
Fiscal implications
minimal to state EFFECTIVE DATE : This act shall take effect on the 120th day after it shall have become law. 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. {1} American Community Survey, Public Use Microdate Sample 2005-2009
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.