Bill Text: NY A10708 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires a proposed amendment to the constitution or other question provided by law to be submitted to a statewide vote be submitted to the people for their approval in plain language which is deemed to be no higher than an eighth grade reading level.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-09-09 - referred to election law [A10708 Detail]

Download: New_York-2021-A10708-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10708

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    September 9, 2022
                                       ___________

        Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Zinerman) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the election law, in relation to the form in which a
          proposed amendment to the constitution or other question  provided  by
          law  to  be  submitted  to  a statewide vote shall be submitted to the
          people for their approval

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Section  1-104 of the election law is amended by adding a
     2  new subdivision 40 to read as follows:
     3    40. (a) The term "plain language" when applied to any statement of the
     4  form in which a proposed amendment to the constitution or other question
     5  provided by law to be submitted to  a  statewide  vote  appears  on  the
     6  ballot  shall  mean  a  statement  which,  in addition to satisfying the
     7  requirements set forth in paragraph d  of  subdivision  one  of  section
     8  4-108 of this chapter: (i) scores no higher than eighth grade or "good",
     9  as  indicated  by  a  score  of a nine on the automated reading index as
    10  calculated pursuant to the formula set forth in paragraph  (b)  of  this
    11  subdivision,  (ii)  contains  no  more  than one passive sentence, (iii)
    12  avoids the use of semicolons, using multiple sentences as necessary, and
    13  (iv) does not contain any double negatives.
    14    (b) The automated reading index shall be calculated according  to  the
    15  following formula:
    16    (i)  Divide the number of characters by the number of words and multi-
    17  ply that number by 4.71.
    18    (ii) Divide the number of words by the number of sentences and  multi-
    19  ply that number by 0.5.
    20    (iii)  Add  the  results from subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this para-
    21  graph.
    22    (iv) Subtract 21.43 from the result  of  subparagraph  (iii)  of  this
    23  paragraph and round to the nearest whole number.
    24    §  2.  Paragraphs a and d of subdivision 1 and subdivisions 2 and 3 of
    25  section 4-108 of the election law, paragraph  d  of  subdivision  1  and
    26  subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 136 of the laws of 1978 and subdivi-

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD15428-02-2
        A. 10708                            2

     1  sion  3 as added by chapter 234 of the laws of 1976, are amended to read
     2  as follows:
     3    a.  Whenever any proposed amendment to the constitution or other ques-
     4  tion provided by law to be  submitted  to  a  statewide  vote  shall  be
     5  submitted to the people for their approval, the state board of elections
     6  at least three months prior to the general election at which such amend-
     7  ment, proposition or question is to be submitted, shall transmit to each
     8  county  board  of  elections a certified copy of the text of each amend-
     9  ment, proposition or question and a statement of the form in which it is
    10  to be submitted as approved after public comment has been  received  and
    11  reviewed pursuant to paragraph d of this subdivision.
    12    d. In addition to the text, such transmittal shall contain an abstract
    13  of  such  proposed  amendment,  proposition or question, prepared by the
    14  state board of elections [concisely stating the purpose and effect ther-
    15  eof in a clear and coherent manner using words with common and  everyday
    16  meanings]  in  plain language as defined in subdivision forty of section
    17  1-104 of this chapter and  satisfying  the  requirements  set  forth  in
    18  subdivision  two  of  this  section.   At least four months prior to the
    19  general election at which such amendment, proposition or question is  to
    20  be  submitted,  the  state board of elections shall publicly release and
    21  submit for public comment the proposed  form  in  which  the  amendment,
    22  proposition  or  question  is  to be submitted to the people. The public
    23  shall have no less than fifteen days to submit comments on the  proposed
    24  form  in which the amendment, proposition or question is to be submitted
    25  to the voters. The state board of elections shall  review  and  consider
    26  all  comments  before  finalizing the statement of the form in which the
    27  proposed amendment, proposition or  question  is  to  be  submitted  for
    28  approval by the people.
    29    2.  The  form in which the proposed amendment, proposition or question
    30  is to be submitted shall consist [of] only [an abbreviated  title  indi-
    31  cating  generally  and briefly, and in a clear and coherent manner using
    32  words with common and every-day meanings,  the  subject  matter  of  the
    33  amendment,  proposition or question] of the following: (a) a descriptive
    34  title of up to fifteen words in bold type, which  describes  the  topic,
    35  goal,  or outcome of the ballot question in plain language; (b) the text
    36  of the question of up to thirty words, written in clear, concise,  plain
    37  language  reasonably calculated to be understood by someone with no more
    38  than an eighth grade level of reading comprehension as determined by the
    39  automatic readability index as defined in subdivision forty  of  section
    40  1-104  of  this chapter; (c) a plain language statement of what a YES or
    41  NO vote means in up to thirty words in total, that identifies the  prac-
    42  tical  results  of  each election result and not the legal mechanism for
    43  implementation; and (d) a fiscal statement of no more  than  twenty-five
    44  words,  when required.   The proposed amendment, proposition or question
    45  may consist of multiple sentences. If  more  than  one  such  amendment,
    46  proposition  or question is to be voted upon at such election, each such
    47  amendment, proposition or question respectively shall be separately  and
    48  consecutively numbered.
    49    3.  The  attorney  general  shall  advise  in the preparation of [such
    50  abstract and] such form of submission, to the extent  that  such  advice
    51  does  not  result  in  a  form that fails to satisfy the requirements of
    52  subdivision two of this section.
    53    § 3. Subdivision 2 of section 4-116 of the election law, as amended by
    54  chapter 60 of the laws of 1993, is amended to read as follows:
    55    2. The state board of elections shall publish once in the week preced-
    56  ing any election at which proposed constitutional  amendments  or  other
        A. 10708                            3

     1  propositions or questions are to be submitted to the voters of the state
     2  an  abstract of such amendment or question, a brief statement of the law
     3  or proceedings  authorizing  such  submission,  a  statement  that  such
     4  submission  will  be  made  and  the form satisfying the requirements of
     5  paragraph d of subdivision one of section 4-108 of this article in which
     6  it is to be submitted.  No later than two months prior  to  the  general
     7  election  at  which  such  amendment,  proposition  or question is to be
     8  submitted, such information shall be prominently displayed on the  state
     9  board  of elections' website and on the website of every county board of
    10  elections which maintains a website.
    11    § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.