| TO: | Honorable Robert Duncan, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs |
| FROM: | John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB2477 by Harless (Relating to the provision of bilingual election materials.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted |
The bill would amend certain sections of the Election Code to require the Secretary of State (SOS) to include with certain certifications appropriate ballot translation language for each language certified statewide or in a specific county by the director of the census under 42 United States Code 1973aa-1a. The bill also would require political subdivisions to provide certain election materials in each language the census director determines under 42 United States Code 1973aa-1a and SOS would be required to prepare translations for certain state prescribed voter forms in each of those languages. The bill would take effect on September 1, 2011. It is assumed that there would be some costs associated with translating materials, but it is anticipated that any costs associated with implementation of the legislation could be absorbed within existing resources.
The bill would require some counties to print election materials in a language other than English and Spanish. Costs would vary depending on whether a particular county would be required to provide new election materials in the language other than English and Spanish and the number of speakers of said language in a given locality; however, costs are not anticipated to be significant.
| Source Agencies: | 307 Secretary of State
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, KJG, BTA
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