Ballot Question Readability (H 7476)

This bill would require ballot questions to be “written in plain language reasonably calculated to be understood by persons with an eighth-grade reading level.” It is often very easy for public officials — and not-so-public officials — to couch legislative matters in bureaucratese and in long-winded ways that can obfuscate as much as enlighten. Voters going to the polls to vote on important ballot issues should not have to wade through a lot of jargon to appreciate and understand what they are being asked to vote on. We commend the Secretary of State for promoting this legislation, which we strongly supported, and was signed into law.