SSHB 288: "An Act relating to bilingual voting; and relating to the definition of 'political party.'"
00 SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 288 01 "An Act relating to bilingual voting; and relating to the definition of 'political party.'" 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 15.15 is amended by adding a new section to read: 04 Sec. 15.15.245. Voting assistance for persons with limited English 05 proficiency. (a) The director shall 06 (1) provide bilingual voting materials or oral translation help at polling 07 places and absentee voting stations designated under AS 15.20.045(b) in an election 08 district in which at least five percent of the voting-age citizens speak a single common 09 language other than English and are persons with limited English proficiency, as 10 determined by the director of the United States Bureau of the Census, based on the 11 latest available American Community Survey census data or comparable census data; 12 and 13 (2) ensure, to the greatest degree possible, the accurate translation of 14 voting materials and the accuracy and availability of oral translation help provided to 15 persons with limited English proficiency.
01 (b) In this section, 02 (1) "voting materials" means registration or voting notices, forms, 03 instructions, assistance, or other materials or information relating to the electoral 04 process, including ballots; 05 (2) "with limited English proficiency" means unable to speak or 06 understand English well enough to participate in the electoral process. 07 * Sec. 2. AS 15.60.010(25) is amended to read: 08 (25) "political party" means an organized group of voters that 09 represents a political program and has at least 2,500 registered voters in the state 10 [(A) THAT NOMINATED A CANDIDATE FOR 11 GOVERNOR WHO RECEIVED AT LEAST THREE PERCENT OF THE 12 TOTAL VOTES CAST FOR GOVERNOR AT THE PRECEDING 13 GENERAL ELECTION OR HAS REGISTERED VOTERS IN THE STATE 14 EQUAL IN NUMBER TO AT LEAST THREE PERCENT OF THE TOTAL 15 VOTES CAST FOR GOVERNOR AT THE PRECEDING GENERAL 16 ELECTION; 17 (B) IF THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR WAS NOT ON THE 18 BALLOT AT THE PRECEDING GENERAL ELECTION BUT THE OFFICE 19 OF UNITED STATES SENATOR WAS ON THAT BALLOT, THAT 20 NOMINATED A CANDIDATE FOR UNITED STATES SENATOR WHO 21 RECEIVED AT LEAST THREE PERCENT OF THE TOTAL VOTES CAST 22 FOR UNITED STATES SENATOR AT THAT GENERAL ELECTION OR 23 HAS REGISTERED VOTERS IN THE STATE EQUAL IN NUMBER TO 24 AT LEAST THREE PERCENT OF THE TOTAL VOTES CAST FOR 25 UNITED STATES SENATOR AT THAT GENERAL ELECTION; OR 26 (C) IF NEITHER THE OFFICE OF GOVERNOR NOR THE 27 OFFICE OF UNITED STATES SENATOR WAS ON THE BALLOT AT 28 THE PRECEDING GENERAL ELECTION, THAT NOMINATED A 29 CANDIDATE FOR UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE WHO 30 RECEIVED AT LEAST THREE PERCENT OF THE TOTAL VOTES CAST 31 FOR UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE AT THAT GENERAL
01 ELECTION OR HAS REGISTERED VOTERS IN THE STATE EQUAL IN 02 NUMBER TO AT LEAST THREE PERCENT OF THE TOTAL VOTES 03 CAST FOR UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE AT THAT GENERAL 04 ELECTION];