Daily News | Philly is about to triple the number of languages it supports in elections
The proposal would translate elections materials, including voter guides and other outreach materials; polling place signs; and ballot questions. The proposal also creates an advisory committee that would meet four times a year beginning next year.The plan would also require a report after each election that breaks down how often each language was used in each precinct to vote by mail, vote on voting machines, and submit voter registrations.
“Through some of the work we’ve been doing through the years trying to get people engaged in our democracy and voting, we see that language can be a hindrance to being a full participant,” said Andy Toy, who helped lead the language access coalition. After all, many English-speaking voters sit out election after election. And while Spanish has been on the ballot for years, low-income Latino neighborhoods have some of the lowest turnout rates in the city. Chinese was added to the ballot in the May primary, and one-tenth of 1% of votes cast on the voting machines — 175 out of more than 166,000 — were cast in Chinese.
The advocates began by making a big pitch: Support more languages as fully as you do Spanish and Chinese, including translating the actual ballots and voting machines. Deeley said the challenges include unfunded mandates from the state and the volume of work that drew city elections officials’ attention and resources away from the language plans.
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