Relates to requiring voting materials to be provided in Russian

Title of bill

An act to amend the election law, in relation to voting materials in Russian

Purpose

This bill seeks the same status for Russian that exists for five other languages (aside from English) relating to all election-related information, as required by federal Voting Rights Act, in cities with over one million residents.

Summary of specific provisions

Section one states that a board of elections in a city of over one million provide all information that is provided in English about the electoral process, including registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance as well as information provided at the polling place, including voting systems, ballot marking devices and ballots in Russian to the extent needed to allow voters who speak Russian to participate effectively in the electoral process and all voting-connected activities. Further, such board of elections shall also provide the same information in Russian that it provides in languages other than English on its website.

Section one also states that such board of elections shall also produce and disseminate citywide a booklet that includes: (a) a voter registration form in English with instructions in Russian; (b) instructions in Russian regarding the criteria and application process for obtaining an absentee ballot; and (c) a section with general voter information in Russian including frequently asked questions. Such board may include other languages on its website and in such booklet.

Section two is the effective date.

Justification

Despite a large demographic presence, New York City makes no accommodation for Russian-speaking voters, as they do for speakers of other languages. The U.S. Census American Community Survey estimates there are 190,000 - 200,000 New York City residents who speak Russian at home. These numbers have only increased since the 2011 five-year estimate of 180,000 - 190,000 Russian speakers. Russian is the third-highest spoken language other than English in New York City, ranking only behind Spanish and Chinese. Russian language speakers are also the third-highest group lacking English proficiency, just behind Spanish and Chinese. Approximately 113,000 - 120,000 Russian-American New Yorkers speak English "less than very well," almost twice the number of some languages in which translated voting materials are currently provided.

Some Assembly, State Senate, Congressional, and local districts have significant Russian-speaking populations, with as many as 20 percent of some districts' total populations. For instance, according to recent U.S. Census data, Russian is the second most common non-English language spoken in New York Congressional District 8, which includes neighborhoods in Southern Brooklyn.

In many of these districts, Russian-Americans are being unfairly shut out of the voting process because of a language barrier. Currently, voting and registration materials are printed in many languages other than English, but Russian has long been, and continues to be, ignored. Many Russian-Americans aren't voting because they aren't registered -- and they aren't registered because they can't read the instructions in the registration materials. In other cases, Russian-American voters who can register are unable to understand the verbose and technical instructions on the ballot - language that often confuses native speakers. Providing a language accommodation for Russian speakers will remove unfair and unnecessary barriers and provide a pathway to a civically engaged electorate. This bill will go a long way toward equal representation for all New Yorkers.

Prior legislative history

Similar to Chapter 244 of 2009 2013-14 A.3456 Referred to Election Law

Fiscal implications

Costs to local boards of elections in cities with one million or more residents.

Effective date

This act shall take on the one hundred and twentieth day after it shall have become law.