The Independent View: NYC BOE to Change Ballot Format

Tiny typeface that rendered election ballots nearly unreadable for many voters is a thing of the past.

The New York City Board of Elections voted unanimously to proceed with work on a trilingual ballot that will eliminate the use of a six-point font, which allowed ballots to be printed in five languages.

The new ballot format will make its debut in the November General Election.

The changes will come at no additional cost to taxpayers. The board still needs to evaluate elections expenses regardless of the proposed ballot alterations, but the number of printed ballots would remain the same.

Last year's ballot fiasco stemmed from the city's compliance with language-access laws requiring ballots to be presented in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Bengali.

The ballot used in the general election was the board's worst-case scenario. Approximately 60 polling sites in Queens needed all five languages and dictated how the ballot appeared in all polling sites. The board at the time debated increasing font size for districts that didn't require all five languages but was stopped short. Attorneys for the city counseled that doing so might violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

The board will now have more room, both figuratively and on the printed page. New ballots will sport a 10-point font and feature up to three languages. Each of the five required languages will still be used, but with three different variations.

For example, the Queens ballots that require the five languages will be available in three combinations: English, Spanish and Chinese; English, Spanish and Korean; or English, Spanish and Bengali.

Election districts in the Bronx and Staten Island, which only require English and Spanish, won't use the trilingual ballots, nor will most districts in Brooklyn and Manhattan. A smattering of districts in the latter two can expect to see the English, Spanish and Chinese variation.

Poll workers are not allowed to ask voters whether they have a ballot preference, making it incumbent upon the voter to request a specific ballot language.