Dinowitz, Walker, Sillitti, Taylor, Burgos, Fall, Levenberg, Simon, Aubry, Jean-Pierre, De Los
Santos, Tapia, Novakhov, Solages, Jackson, Gonzalez-Rojas, Forrest, Shrestha, Zaccaro, Epstein,
Rosenthal L
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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.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1722B
SPONSOR: Zinerman TITLE OF BILL:
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
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL::
To require that proposed amendments and other questions submitted to a
statewide vote will be set forth on the ballot in plain, easily under-
stood language that identifies the practical impact of adopting or
rejecting the amendment or other measure and requires no more than an
eighth grade reading comprehension level.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section one adds four new subdivisions to section 4-108 of the election
law, which defines of the term "plain language" when applied to consti-
tutional amendments or other questions submitted to the voters. It also
specifies that the ballot language cannot have more than 1 sentence that
is a succinct summary of the change in policy, which describes the
topic, goal or outcome of the change..
It further requires the state board of elections to publicly release
proposed ballot language at least four months before the general
election at which the proposal will be submitted to the voters and to
give the public at least 15 days to submit comments. The board is
required to review and consider the comments received from the public
before finalizing the certified ballot language to be distributed to the
county boards of elections for inclusion on the ballot.
The bill requires the Attorney General of the State of New York must
identify recommendations in such plain language prior to being incorpo-
rated on the ballot. And the bill further amends election law to provide
detailed specifications for the form of the'ballot language by which
constitutional amendments or other questions are be submitted to the
voters. The ballot statement would be limited a total of 75 words: a
descriptive title of no more than 15 words, a statement of the question
presented in 30 words or less written to be understood by someone with
no more than an eighth grade reading comprehension as determined by the
ARI, and a plain language statement of no more than 30 words explaining
the practical impact of a yes or no vote, rather than a statement of the
legal mechanism implementing the provision if passed. If required, a
fiscal statement no longer than 25 words would be included. The attorney
general would continue to advise in the preparation of the statement by
which the amendment or question is presented to the voters, but cannot
specify changes which would result in a form that does not satisfy the
plain language requirements or the specific requirements set forth in
amended § 4-108.
In addition, the bill requires in addition to publishing the specified
information regarding the question(s) to be submitted to the voters, the
state board of elections and any county board of elections which main-
tains a public website should prominently display the same information
on their websites for no less than two months before the general
election in which the question is to be submitted to the voters.
JUSTIFICATION::
Voters frequently complain that the legal language by which proposed
constitutional amendments and other questions are submitted on the
ballot for voter approval are difficult to read and understand, even
though that language is supposed to be "clear and coherent." As a conse-
quence, many voters choose not to vote on the proposals because they do
not understand them. An assessment of the readability of two ballot
proposals submitted to the voters on the November 2021 ballot determined
that voters needed a college reading comprehension level to understand
the proposals. If voters cannot understand the text-or the implications
of the question-they cannot participate effectively. The solution is
writing ballot questions in plain language.
According to the federal resource, plainlanguage.gov, language is plain
when people can find what they need, understand what they find, and use
it to meet their goals For a ballot question, this means that voters can
understand the practical outcomes of voting yes or no on a ballot ques-
tion and confidently vote their intent.
Plain language is feasible and tested in government materials, notably
for consumer contracts, mortgage disclosures, securities and exchange
filings, and medical information. It facilitates translation, making it
easier to create readable ballots in other languages or for voters with
lower English literacy to understand the text. It can increase trust by
helping voters feel confident that they can vote their intent and that
the question is not trying to trick them. And it can reduce
litigation(and associated costs) by making meaning clear.
Academic research shows that plain language helps voters. Research
establishes that voters recognize the difference between plain language
and traditional language ballots and prefer those written in plain
language. Voters vote more accurately and quickly on plain language
ballots and are more likely to, complete the entire ballot.
Plain language can be measured and compliance can be enforced. There are
existing ways to measure how easy text is to read. These readability
scores measure the length and complexity of the text. The Automated
Readability Index (ARI) was chosen as a reliable and validated measure-
ment tool developed by federal agencies to assess technical text. It is
easier and more reliable to calculate than other readability measures.
It tests word complexity as letters per word, and sentence complexity as
the number of words in a sentence. This is more reliable than relying on
the number of syllables in the text. Commonly understood legal
terms(like "Constitution") can be allowed and exempted from readability
testing through regulation that establishes an acceptable word list.
Specifying a required structure for the statement that will be included
on the ballot will provide consistency in what a vote means. To make
every amendment or question proposed readily understandable, the state-
ment that appears on the ballot will describe the change, not the mech-
anism for change and will provide a clear statement of what voting Yes
or No means. While lawyers consistently refer to, and emphasize, the
legal mechanism for'the change, such descriptions have little meaning
for the typical voter. Similarly, avoiding double negatives and passive
sentences will help to make the proposed action and actors clear to the
voters, assisting voters in ascertaining and voter their intent.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS::
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1722--B
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 20, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ZINERMAN, DINOWITZ, WALKER, SILLITTI, TAYLOR,
BURGOS, FALL, LEVENBERG, SIMON, AUBRY, JEAN-PIERRE, DE LOS SANTOS,
TAPIA, NOVAKHOV, SOLAGES, JACKSON, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, FORREST, SHRESTHA
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Election Law -- commit-
tee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recom-
mitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee with
amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee
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. Paragraph d of subdivision 1 and subdivisions 2 and 3 of
2 section 4-108 of the election law, paragraph d of subdivision 1 and
3 subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 136 of the laws of 1978 and subdivi-
4 sion 3 as added by chapter 234 of the laws of 1976, are amended and four
5 new subdivisions 4, 5, 6 and 7 are added to read as follows:
6 d. In addition to the text, such transmittal shall contain an abstract
7 of such proposed amendment, proposition or question, prepared by the
8 state board of elections [concisely stating the purpose and effect ther-
9 eof in a clear and coherent manner using words with common and everyday
10 meanings] in plain language.
11 2. The form in which the proposed amendment, proposition or question
12 is to be submitted shall consist [of] only [an abbreviated title indi-
13 cating generally and briefly, and in a clear and coherent manner using
14 words with common and every-day meanings, the subject matter of the
15 amendment, proposition or question] of the following: a. a descriptive
16 title of up to fifteen words, which describes the topic, goal, or
17 outcome of the ballot question in plain language; b. a summary of the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01430-03-3
A. 1722--B 2
1 text ballot proposal of up to thirty words, written in plain language,
2 that describes the change in policy to be adopted and not the legal
3 mechanism; and c. a statement of what a YES or NO vote means in up to
4 thirty words written in plain language that identifies the practical
5 outcome of each election result and not the legal mechanism. If more
6 than one such amendment, proposition or question is to be voted upon at
7 such election, each such amendment, proposition or question respectively
8 shall be separately and consecutively numbered.
9 3. The attorney general shall advise in the preparation of [such
10 abstract and] such form of submission, and such recommendations shall be
11 in plain language.
12 4. a. The state board of elections shall prominently publish on its
13 website at least four months prior to the general election at which a
14 ballot proposal shall appear, the proposed form of the ballot proposal
15 and abstract. There shall be a public comment period of at least fifteen
16 days subsequent to such publication. The state board shall review and
17 consider public comments before adopting the final form of the ballot
18 proposal and abstract.
19 b. The state board of elections shall also publish on its website the
20 Automated Readability Index score calculated pursuant to subdivision six
21 of this section for each form of question and abstract.
22 The score shall require no higher than an eighth grade reading level
23 (a score of 8 on the Automated Readability Index), unless the state
24 board of elections shall state the basis for its determination that the
25 plain language requirements of this section are met.
26 5. For the purposes of this section, plain language shall mean the
27 form of the ballot proposal and abstract:
28 a. shall be written in easily comprehended, concise language;
29 b. shall not contain more the one passive sentence;
30 c. shall not use semicolons, using multiple sentences as necessary;
31 and
32 d. shall not contain double negatives.
33 6. To evaluate compliance with the plain language requirements of this
34 section, the state board of elections shall calculate an Automated Read-
35 ability Index score, separately, for each statewide form of ballot
36 proposal and abstract.
37 The Automated Readability Index score shall be calculated according
38 to the following formula:
39 a. Divide the number of characters (excluding spaces) by the number of
40 words and multiply that number by 4.71;
41 b. Divide the number of words by the number of sentences and multiply
42 that number by 0.5;
43 c. Add the results of paragraphs a and b of this subdivision.
44 d. Subtract 21.43 from the result of paragraph c of this paragraph and
45 round to the nearest whole number.
46 7. No specific Automated Readability Index score shall be required;
47 provided, however, the board shall use best efforts to score at an
48 eighth grade reading level or below and meet the definition of plain
49 language in subdivision five of this section. In addition, the board
50 shall expend their best efforts not to exceed the word limits in subdi-
51 vision two of this section but may do so when plain language clarity is
52 improved thereby.
53 § 2. Section 4-116 of the election law, is amended by adding a new
54 subdivision 4 to read as follows:
55 4. No later than two months prior to the general election at which any
56 statewide ballot proposal is to be submitted to the people, the state
A. 1722--B 3
1 board of elections and all local boards of elections shall publish on
2 their websites the information required to be published pursuant to
3 subdivision two of this section.
4 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
