Rep. Lawrence M. Walsh, Jr.

Filed: 4/20/2015

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 1452

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 1452 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 5. The Election Code is amended by adding Section
517-14.1 as follows:
 
6    (10 ILCS 5/17-14.1 new)
7    Sec. 17-14.1. Foreign language ballots.
8    (a) As used in this Section:
9    "Election information" means all information necessary for
10the public to participate fully and freely in all elections,
11including but not limited to, voter registration forms,
12candidate qualifying forms (but not nomination petitions),
13candidate information pamphlets, voter information pamphlets,
14vote by mail and regular ballots, and information about poll
15locations and hours of operation. "Election information" shall
16not include the website of an election authority, but if an

 

 

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1election authority is required by this Section to provide
2foreign language election information anywhere in its
3jurisdiction, the front page of the website shall indicate how
4persons speaking the foreign language or languages in the
5jurisdiction can access foreign language election information.
6The indication required in this subsection shall be in the
7language or languages of the population that triggered the
8applicability of this Section.
9    "Foreign language" means Chinese, Korean, Polish, Spanish,
10and any combination of Gujarati, Hindi, and Urdu.
11    "Limited English proficiency" means a person who has been
12estimated by the American Community Survey to speak English
13less than "very well".
14    "Table B16001" means the dataset published by the U.S.
15Census Bureau or American Community Survey titled "Language
16spoken at home by ability to speak English for the population 5
17years and over" and identified as Table B16001, or any
18substantially similar dataset the U.S. Census or American
19Community Survey publishes following any future survey.
20    (b) On or before June 1, 2016 and on or before June 1 of
21every subsequent year ending in a 1 or a 6, each election
22authority shall report to the State Board of Elections all
23census tracts in its jurisdiction in which Table B16001
24demonstrates that the American Community Survey has estimated
25that more than 10% of the persons residing within that census
26tract who speak the same foreign language have been identified

 

 

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1as having limited English proficiency. The election authority
2shall use information from the most recent American Community
3Survey estimate. The State Board of Elections shall make this
4list publicly available on its website on or before June 30 of
5the same year.
6    (c) Beginning with the general election held in 2016, any
7election authority reporting census tracts to the State Board
8of Elections pursuant to subsection (b) of this Section shall
9make all election information available in the primary
10non-English language of the persons having limited English
11proficiency identified in Table B16001. Ballots in these
12foreign languages need only be available to voters registered
13in the precincts that overlap with the census tracts identified
14in the reports required in subsection (b). If the foreign
15language that triggers the applicability of this Section is the
16combination of Gujarati, Hindi, and Urdu, then ballots shall be
17made available in Hindi only, but the election authority shall
18make a good-faith effort to recruit Gujarati and Urdu election
19judges in precincts that overlap the census tracts where the
20American Community Survey estimates Gujarati and Urdu speakers
21reside.
22    (d) Nothing in this Section requires an election authority
23to make election information available in the primary
24non-English language of the Limited English Proficiency
25persons prior to June 1, 2016.
 

 

 

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1    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
2becoming law.".