HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1498 FILED ON: 1/13/2009
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3665
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the Year Two Thousand Nine
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An Act regarding the preparation of certain ballots in the City of Boston..
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Definitions
As used in this act, the following words shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
Chinese surname means any surname which appears on the Lauderdale and Kestenbaum list of Chinese surnames.
City means the City of Boston.
Election shall mean any election, as defined by section 1 of chapter 50 of the General Laws.
Transliteration means the printing of relevant Chinese characters to represent the phonetic equivalent of the syllables of an English name or a name in any other language that is not traditionally written using Chinese characters.
State election shall mean any election at which a national, state, or county officer or a regional district school committee member elected district-wide is to be chosen by the voters, whether for a full term or for the filling of a vacancy.
Vietnamese surname means any surname which appears on the Lauderdale and Kestenbaum list of Vietnamese surnames.
SECTION 2. Notwithstanding section 40 of chapter 54 of the General Laws, or any other general or special law to the contrary, in federal and state elections the state secretary shall prepare bilingual ballots in English and Chinese, and English and Vietnamese in addition to any other bilingual ballots required by law, in the designated polling places within the city of Boston as defined by Section 4 of this act.
SECTION 3. Notwithstanding section 58 of the charter of the City of Boston, or any other general or special law to the contrary, in all City of Boston preliminary or final elections the election commission shall cause bilingual ballots in English and Chinese, and English and Vietnamese in addition to any other bilingual ballots required by law, in the designated polling places within the city of Boston as defined by Section 4 of this act.
SECTION 4. English-Chinese bilingual ballots shall be provided in every polling place in the City where there are at least 35 registered voters with Chinese surnames. English-Vietnamese bilingual ballots shall be provided in every polling place in the City where there are at least 30 registered voters with Vietnamese surnames.
At least one English-Chinese bilingual ballot per registered voter with a Chinese surname shall be provided in each designated polling place. At least one English-Vietnamese bilingual ballot per registered voter with a Vietnamese surname shall be provided in each designated polling place. In any district, county, state, or federal primary or election the State Secretary may provide additional sets of bilingual ballots for any polling place in the City when he deems it necessary. In any preliminary or final election the City's Election Department may provide additional sets of bilingual ballots for any polling place in the City when it deems necessary.
SECTION 5. The Election Commission in all City of Boston preliminary or final elections and the State Secretary in all federal and state elections shall provide for the transliteration of all candidates’ names for English-Chinese bilingual ballots. All candidates shall be provided with a written copy of the proposed transliteration of candidate's name. Within seven days of receiving the proposed transliterations of candidate's name, any candidate may provide written notice to the City Election Commission or State Secretary of a modification of the proposed transliteration of candidate's own name or decline to have candidate's own name transliterated on the ballot. The transliteration shall be subject to final approval by the City Election Commission in all City of Boston preliminary or final elections or the State Secretary in all federal and state elections. The City Election Commission or State Secretary shall provide public notice of transliterated names as soon as practicable.
SECTION 6. The City of Boston shall record the number of English-Chinese and English-Vietnamese bilingual ballots that are printed, requested, or used in all elections held in the City of Boston.
SECTION 7. The provisions of this act shall take effect on its passage.
SECTION 8. All provisions of this law shall cease to have further effect after December 31, 2013, the sunset date.
SECTION 9. If any provision of these sections or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance shall be held invalid, the validity of the remainder of these sections and the applicability of any such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.