Includes certain persons of Middle Eastern and North African heritage and speakers of Haitian Creole as language minorities

Latest action Apr 28, 2026

Includes certain persons of Middle Eastern and North African heritage and speakers of Haitian Creole as language minorities.

Not chosen yet

Where it stands

Passed one of the two chambers; it still needs the other.

Introduced
In committee
Up for a vote
Passed one chamber
Passed
Enacted

New York State Senate

Same as A8891, the matching bill in the Assembly.

Amends the Election Law.

Committee

Election Law · New York State Assembly

Also referred to Elections · New York State Senate.

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

Section 1 of the bill adds speakers of Haitian Creole and people of Middle Eastern or North African heritage to the groups of people protected by the New York Voting Rights Act's language provisions. Section 2 sets forth the effective date.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateApr 28, 2026Result: passed
(43) (15) (0) (5)
Vote: Committee vote · Elections
Senate ElectionsApr 21, 2026Result: passed
(5) (2) (0) (0)
Vote: Committee vote · Rules
Senate RulesJun 11, 2025Result: passed
(18) (2) (0) (1)
Vote: Floor vote
NY SenateJun 11, 2025Result: passed
(47) (12) (0) (4)

The sponsor's argument

Why Zellnor Myrie says this is needed

The John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York included protections for language minorities as one of its key provisions. These protections involve ensuring voting materials in a non-English language if there are a sufficient number of speakers of that language in various jurisdic- tions. Adding speakers of Haitian Creole to the definition of "language minority group" will also make these speakers and New Yorkers of Middle Eastern protected classes under the law and therefore eligible to chal- lenge vote suppression or dilution based on this status in court. This bill will help protect the voting rights of speakers of Haitian Creole in New York State.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

Apr 28, 2026
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
Apr 28, 2026
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Apr 28, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ELECTION LAW
NY Assembly
Apr 27, 2026
Advanced to Third Reading
ADVANCED TO THIRD READING
NY Senate
Apr 22, 2026
2ND Report CAL.
2ND REPORT CAL.
NY Senate

Show full history (12 earlier events)

Apr 21, 2026
1ST Report CAL.789
1ST REPORT CAL.789
NY Senate
Jan 7, 2026
Died in Assembly
DIED IN ASSEMBLY
NY Assembly
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ELECTION LAW
NY Assembly
Jan 7, 2026
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ELECTIONS
NY Senate
Jun 11, 2025
In committee
COMMITTEE DISCHARGED AND COMMITTED TO RULES
NY Senate
Jun 11, 2025
Sent to the executive
DELIVERED TO ASSEMBLY
NY Senate
Jun 11, 2025
Ordered to Third Reading CAL.1795
ORDERED TO THIRD READING CAL.1795
NY Senate
Jun 11, 2025
Passed a chamber
PASSED SENATE
NY Senate
Jun 11, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ELECTION LAW
NY Assembly
Jun 10, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ELECTION LAW
NY Assembly
Jun 6, 2025
Amend (t) and Recommit to Elections
AMEND (T) AND RECOMMIT TO ELECTIONS
NY Senate
Jan 8, 2025
Referred to committee
REFERRED TO ELECTIONS
NY Senate

About this record

Summary: The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.
Source: From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Nov 3, 2026. About our data

Read the record

Read on NY Senate (opens in a new tab) The official record on nysenate.gov.

Your position