Rewrite equal rights ballot question for readability, advocates tell BOE

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — Should you need a college degree to understand ballot measures? According to Common Cause New York, that standard gets in the way of voter participation statewide.

The government accountability nonprofit argued that the language of a ballot measure New Yorkers will vote on come November must be simplified. They said that Proposition No. 1—formerly known as the Equal Rights Amendment—requires a college reading level or higher, but that it's not supposed to.

It shouldn't be higher than eighth-grade level, Common Cause said. That's because S1381A/A1722B requires proposals for constitutional amendments and other statewide ballot questions to appear in plain language.

Signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in November, the law gave several rules for communicating in plain language:

• Easy to understand and short
• One passive sentence maximum
• No semicolons
• No double negatives

It also required the New York State Board of Elections (BOE) to calculate a readability score for each ballot proposal and—though not mandating it—strongly encourages a reading level of eighth grade or below. It even includes a formula for figuring out the readability score:

1. Divide the number of characters (not including spaces) by the number of words
2. Multiply that number by 4.71
3. Divide the number of words by the number of sentences
4. Cut that number in half
5. Add up the results of line 2 and line 4
6. Subtract 21.43 from that number
7. Round to the nearest whole number

Working out the math, the proposition scored a 14 on the index, corresponding to grade levels rather than age. And the abstract for the proposal scored even worse—15, roughly corresponding to a college student in their third year. Both should have scored an 8 or lower.

The plain language guidelines also told lawmakers and NYSBOE to frame ballot measures as yes or no questions, and focus on policy changes instead of behind-the-scenes legal mechanisms. According to a spokesperson from the BOE:

"As stated in the Justification section on the page on our website, the draft proposal and abstract language represented efforts to meet the statutory requirements while accurately presenting the amendment approved by the state legislature to the voters. The comment period remains open through Friday, and the Commissioners will take up the issue at the Board meeting on Monday, July 29. Thus far, the Board has received over 900 comments, and each is being reviewed with care."

Pushback to the proposition came among those 900 public comments, this one from Common Cause New York. "NYSBOE has failed to meet both the spirit and intent of the law by proposing language that is currently at college grade reading levels far exceeding the statutory goal of an 8th grade reading level," it read in part, "It is vital the NYSBOE makes a good faith attempt to meet the new standards in its inaugural implementation year so as to set a high standard moving forward."

The Center for Civic Design worked with Common Cause on the plain language bill. Their feedback to NYSBOE included an important statistic: "The National Assessment of Adult Literacy reports that 43% of literate adults read at only basic or below basic levels."

The Center for Civic Design also proposed edits for a plain language version of the proposition. Their analysis shows that using specific language—"abortion" versus "reproductive healthcare," for example, or "LGBT" versus "gender identity"—goes a long way in clarifying the meaning. Check out some of their suggestions:

New York's Constitution already says that you can't be discriminated against because of your race, color, religion, or beliefs. The proposal adds protections for ethnicity, disabilities, gender, sexual orientation, where you’re from, how old you are, and whether you're pregnant or dealing with problems related to pregnancy.