A bill would increase requirements for California elections officials to accommodate voters who rely on languages other than English.
Get the news that matters to all Californians. Start every week informed.Safiyo Jama, a San Diego resident from Somalia, has voted in U.S. elections since 2012 and helps other Somali residents understand election materials. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMattersAdvocates say California’s immigrant citizens who need it should get ballots and voting help in their own language.
If the proposal succeeds, it would require San Diego County, for instance, to translate voting material into Somali and at least 20 other languages, the bill’s sponsors say. California has lower population thresholds, requiring translations of sample ballots for greater numbers of eligible voters, but not other services such as votable ballots in other languages or poll workers who speak other languages, advocates said. Thousands of immigrants still lack equal access to the polls, advocates said, because they rely on languages not covered under federal laws.
Thousands of Somali refugees like Jama immigrated to San Diego County in the 1990s, as civil war ravaged the East African nation. Decades later at least 1,400 voting-age Somali residents in the county have self-identified as having limited English proficiency, though voting rights advocates say that’s likely an undercount.by voter advocates says the federal government’s definition of “language minorities” overlooks many voters who speak African or Middle Eastern languages.
Advocates said translated sample ballots are useful, but they still pose difficulties for eligible voters who don’t speak English well. The lack of assistance in their specific language and having to rely on friends, family, even children to provide translation are the main reasons these eligible voters don’t register in the first place, advocates said.
“For many counties that currently have more state-covered languages than federal-covered languages, increasing language service requirements could be expected to more than double the county’s language service costs and demand on labor,” the association wrote in a letter to Assemblymember Chris Holden, the Pasadena Democrat who chairs the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
In precincts where the 3% language threshold is met, a county must provide translated sample ballots and translated instructions to voters. But some advocates said that’s not enough.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Illinois primary election 2024: How and where to vote in the Chicago suburbsThis is your guide to voting in the Chicago suburbs this primary, from voting in person on the March 19 Election Day to early voting or voting by mail.
Read more »
Chicago’s 2024 primary election: How to vote early, get a mail-in ballot or find a polling place on March 19This is your guide to voting in Chicago this primary, from voting in person on the March 19 Election Day to early voting or voting by mail.
Read more »
Voting rights group discusses voting discrimination in AlabamaAdvocates say voter discrimination has become more of an issue in Alabama even 59 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
Read more »
Los Angeles, California job with University of California, Los AngelesThe Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA invites applications for a position at the level of Postdoctoral Scholar/Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Marmar Vaseghi.
Read more »
CSU student assistants vote to unionizeCalifornia State University student assistants voted Friday to join the California State University Employees Union (CSUEU).
Read more »
Where to vote in person or by mail in San Diego County for the 2024 Primary ElectionHere's what to know about voting in-person, dropping off your ballot and voting by mail in San Diego County for the California Primary Election in 2024.
Read more »