AB246A - Revises provisions governing elections. (BDR 24-821)

EXEMPT (Reprinted with amendments adopted on May 30, 2023) SECOND REPRINT A.B. 246 - *AB246_R2* ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 246–ASSEMBLYMEN TORRES, MARZOLA, WATTS, GONZÁLEZ; ANDERSON, BACKUS, BILBRAY-AXELROD, BROWN-MAY, CARTER, COHEN, CONSIDINE, D’SILVA, DURAN, BRITTNEY MILLER, C.H. MILLER, MONROE-MORENO, MOSCA, NEWBY, NGUYEN, PETERS, SUMMERS-ARMSTRONG AND TAYLOR MARCH 3, 2023 ____________ Referred to Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections SUMMARY—Revises provisions governing elections. (BDR 24-821) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact. Effect on the State: Yes. CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§§ 5, 6, 8, 11-13, 18, 21, 26, 27) (NOT REQUESTED BY AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT) ~ EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. AN ACT relating to elections; requiring, under certain circumstances, the Secretary of State, county clerks and city clerks to ensure that voting materials and certain other elections information are posted on certain Internet websites and made available in certain languages; requiring the Secretary of State to establish a toll-free telephone number which may be used for a person to receive language interpretation or translation assistance relating to an election; requiring such telephone number to be posted at each polling place and on certain Internet websites and included on sample ballots; requiring the Secretary of State to include certain information related to a registered voter’s preferred language on an application to register to vote; requiring county and city clerks to make a good faith effort to appoint election board officers who are bilingual; revising the information relating to registered voters that is required to be included on the statewide voter registration list; requiring, under certain circumstances, a mechanical voting system to list offices, candidates and ballot measures in a voter’s preferred language; creating and setting forth the membership and duties of the Language Access Advisory Committee; making an appropriation to the Office of the Secretary of State for certain expenses relating to language access and the establishment of a toll-free telephone number; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. – 2 – - *AB246_R2* Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law requires each voting system used by a county or city to provide 1 voting materials in English and every language in which voting materials are 2 required to be prepared pursuant to federal law. (52 U.S.C. § 10503; NRS 3 293.2699) Section 5 of this bill requires the Secretary of State to ensure that voting 4 materials and other elections information are posted or made available at a polling 5 place in certain languages. Section 5 further requires the Secretary of State, on or 6 before January 1 of each odd-numbered year, to review certain data on persons who 7 are members of a minority group and are of limited-English proficiency in the 8 State. Based on the review of such data, under certain circumstances, the Secretary 9 of State and certain county and city clerks are required to ensure that voting 10 materials and other information are provided in certain other languages. Sections 11 11-16, 18, 19 and 26-28.5 of this bill make conforming changes to require that 12 certain elections materials be available in such languages. 13 Section 37.5 of this bill requires the Secretary of State to review certain data in 14 sufficient time for voting materials to be prepared for the 2024 General Election. 15 Sections 2-4 of this bill, respectively, define the terms “limited-English 16 proficiency,” “minority group” and “voting materials.” Section 9 of this bill makes 17 a conforming change to indicate the proper placement of sections 2-4 in the Nevada 18 Revised Statutes. 19 Section 6 of this bill requires the Secretary of State and authorizes a county 20 clerk to establish a toll-free telephone number which may be used by any person to 21 receive language interpretation or translation assistance relating to an election. 22 Sections 7, 14-16, 18, 22, 27 and 28 of this bill require each polling place, sample 23 ballot and Internet website of the county or city clerk, as applicable, to include such 24 telephone number. 25 Section 8 of this bill requires the Secretary of State to include on all forms for 26 an application to preregister or register to vote certain language authorizing a 27 person who registers to vote to request a sample ballot in a language other than 28 English. 29 Existing law requires each county and city clerk to appoint registered voters to 30 act as election board officers for the various polling places in the county or city, as 31 applicable. (NRS 293.217, 293C.220) Sections 10 and 25 of this bill require the 32 county or city clerk to make a good faith effort to appoint election board officers 33 who are bilingual. 34 Existing law requires the Secretary of State to prescribe forms for applications 35 to preregister or register to vote. (NRS 293.507) Section 17 of this bill requires the 36 Secretary of State to include on each such application a line on which to enter the 37 applicant’s state or country of birth and a language preference. Section 20 of this 38 bill requires such information to be included on the statewide voter registration list. 39 Existing law requires the Secretary of State to establish a system on the Internet 40 website of the Office of the Secretary of State to allow persons by computer to 41 preregister and register to vote, cancel such preregistration or registration, update 42 such preregistration or registration and determine at what polling place or places he 43 or she is entitled to vote. The system is required to be user friendly. (NRS 293.671) 44 Section 19 of this bill requires the system to also be accessible in each language in 45 which the Secretary of State is required to provide information and voting materials 46 pursuant to section 5. 47 Section 21 of this bill provides that if the mechanical voting system used in a 48 county or city is capable of providing a registered voter’s ballot in the preferred 49 language of the voter other than English, the county or city clerk, as applicable, 50 shall ensure that the list of offices and candidates and the statement of ballot 51 measures for which the voter is entitled to vote is in that preferred language. 52 Section 34 of this bill creates the Language Access Advisory Committee within 53 the Office of the Secretary of State, consisting of the Secretary of State or his or her 54 – 3 – - *AB246_R2* designee, and certain other members. Section 35 of this bill requires the Advisory 55 Committee to: (1) identify certain programs and services that address language 56 accessibility of elections and voting materials; (2) coordinate with community 57 organizations to determine language accessibility of elections and voting materials; 58 (3) act as a liaison between the Office of the Secretary of State and community 59 organizations; (4) make certain annual assessments relating to language 60 accessibility; and (5) make certain recommendations to the Office of the Secretary 61 of State relating to language accessibility. Section 36 of this bill sets forth certain 62 requirements for meetings of the Advisory Committee. Section 37 of this bill: (1) 63 requires the Secretary of State to appoint the initial members of the Advisory 64 Committee before January 1, 2024; and (2) staggers the terms of the initial 65 members. 66 Section 36.7 of this bill makes an appropriation to the Office of the Secretary 67 of State to carry out certain provisions of this bill relating to language access and 68 the establishment of the toll-free telephone number required pursuant to section 6. 69 Sections 23 and 24 of this bill make conforming changes to indicate the proper 70 placement of section 22 in the Nevada Revised Statutes. 71 Section 29 of this bill makes a conforming change to indicate the proper 72 placement of section 7 in the Nevada Revised Statutes. 73 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Chapter 293 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 1 thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 8, inclusive, of this 2 act. 3 Sec. 2. “Limited-English proficiency” means being unable to 4 speak or understand English adequately to participate in the 5 electoral process. 6 Sec. 3. “Minority group” includes, without limitation, United 7 States citizens of Chinese heritage. 8 Sec. 4. “Voting materials” means the following written 9 materials: 10 1. Applications to preregister or register to vote; 11 2. Ballots and the instructions for the use of such ballots, 12 including, without limitation, mail ballots, sample ballots and 13 provisional ballots; 14 3. Voting instructions; 15 4. Information and instructions relating to the location of 16 polling places, including, without limitation, vote centers, 17 permanent polling places for early voting and temporary branch 18 polling places and the hours during which such polling places will 19 be open; 20 5. Any notices required to be provided for an election 21 pursuant to title 24 of NRS; 22 6. Ballot questions; 23 7. Any forms prepared for an election to assist voters; and 24 – 4 – - *AB246_R2* 8. Any other voting materials the Secretary of State requires 1 to be translated by a regulation adopted pursuant to section 5 of 2 this act. 3 Sec. 5. 1. The Secretary of State shall ensure that voting 4 materials and other elections information that is posted on the 5 Internet website of the Office of the Secretary of State or the 6 system of approved electronic transmission established pursuant to 7 NRS 293D.200 is available on such website and system of 8 approved electronic transmission in any language in which voting 9 materials are required to be prepared pursuant to 52 U.S.C. § 10 10503. If any such language does not have a standard writing 11 system, the information required to be posted must be set forth in 12 an audio recording in the language. Except as otherwise provided 13 in this subsection, the Secretary of State shall use a translator who 14 is certified in the specific language to translate the information 15 required pursuant to this subsection. If such a certified translator 16 is not available to translate the information required pursuant to 17 this subsection, the Secretary of State shall make a continuous 18 effort to find such a certified translator or coordinate with the 19 minority group for translation assistance. 20 2. Each county clerk and city clerk shall ensure that the 21 Internet website of the county or city clerk, as applicable, has 22 posted in a prominent location a link to the information on the 23 website of the Office of the Secretary of State required pursuant to 24 subsection 1. 25 3. The Secretary of State shall, on or before January 1 of 26 each odd-numbered year, review data on persons who are 27 members of a minority group and are of limited-English 28 proficiency in the State, based on the American Community 29 Survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census of the United 30 States Department of Commerce or language preference 31 information collected by the Secretary of State. In addition to the 32 requirements set forth in subsections 1 and 2, if, based on such 33 data: 34 (a) The Secretary of State finds that there are at least 5,000 35 qualified electors in this State who are members of a minority 36 group and are of limited-English proficiency, the Secretary of 37 State shall ensure that voting materials and other elections 38 information that are posted on the Internet website of the Office of 39 the Secretary of State or set forth in the system of approved 40 electronic transmission established pursuant to NRS 293D.200 are 41 available in the language or languages of the minority group. If 42 any such language does not have a standard writing system, the 43 information required to be posted or made available must be set 44 forth in an audio recording in the language. Except as otherwise 45 – 5 – - *AB246_R2* provided in this paragraph, the Secretary of State shall use a 1 translator who is certified in the specific language to translate the 2 information required pursuant to this paragraph. If such a 3 certified translator is not available to translate the information 4 required pursuant to this paragraph, the Secretary of State shall 5 make a continuous effort to find such a certified translator or 6 coordinate with the minority group for translation assistance. 7 (b) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the 8 Secretary of State finds that there are at least 20,000 qualified 9 electors in this State who are members of a minority group and are 10 of limited-English proficiency, the Secretary of State shall 11 collaborate with each county clerk to ensure that voting materials 12 and other elections information that are required to be posted or 13 made available at a polling place or on the Internet website of the 14 county clerk are posted or available in the language or languages 15 of the minority group. If any such language does not have a 16 standard writing system, the information required to be posted or 17 made available must be set forth in an audio recording in the 18 language. Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the 19 Secretary of State shall use a translator who is certified in 20 the specific language to translate the information required 21 pursuant to this paragraph. If such a certified translator is not 22 available to translate the information required pursuant to this 23 paragraph, the Secretary of State shall make a continuous effort 24 to find such a certified translator or coordinate with the minority 25 group for translation assistance. The cost of preparing and 26 providing voting materials and other elections information in any 27 language required pursuant to this paragraph is a charge against 28 the State and must be paid from the Reserve for Statutory 29 Contingency Account upon recommendation by the Secretary of 30 State and approval by the State Board of Examiners. The 31 provisions of this paragraph do not apply to the extent that a 32 county clerk is required pursuant to paragraph (c) to ensure that 33 voting materials and other elections information that are required 34 to be posted or made [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]