Posted on 08/19/2011 5:50:00 AM PDT by Kaslin
At a time when many state and local governments cannot afford even necessary government programs, the Obama administration is about to force hundreds of jurisdictions to waste millions of dollars printing ballots in Spanish and other languages for voters who don't need them. Worse, some of these bilingual ballots may be used fraudulently to encourage people who are not citizens to vote illegally in next year's election.
A perverse element of the Voting Rights Act makes the whole scheme possible, and, unfortunately, not even Republicans have been willing to challenge it.
Under the Act, jurisdictions whose population includes at least 5 percent of voting-age citizens who have limited English proficiency must provide ballots and other voting materials in other languages. Currently, about 500 jurisdictions are required to do so.
I have repeatedly testified before Congress against this provision. As I have argued, there are exceedingly few persons who are actually eligible to vote who can't understand English. English proficiency among U.S.-born Hispanics is virtually universal. And even among naturalized citizens, English proficiency is rarely a problem, since demonstrating English proficiency is required to become a U.S. citizen.
So how is it that so many jurisdictions end up having to provide materials in Spanish, Chinese and other languages, when so few eligible voters really need them?
It has to do with the way the government determines who is English-proficient and who isn't.
The Census Bureau, which is charged under the Voting Rights Act with determining which jurisdictions will be required to print bilingual voting materials, uses a remarkably dubious methodology to determine how many citizens are not proficient in English. Since 1982, the bureau on its census forms has counted those who are members of so-called language minorities and who say they speak English "well" as having limited proficiency. Doing so in 1982 tripled the number of jurisdictions forced to provide bilingual ballots.
In many places, these bilingual materials just sit unused during elections -- a waste of money that could be spent elsewhere. A 1997 General Accounting Office report noted that the printing of bilingual material accounted for half the election costs in those jurisdictions covered. And an earlier GAO study found that in most jurisdictions required to print bilingual materials, not a single person requested them. Could there be a more egregious waste of public funds?
But the greater danger is that unscrupulous groups sometimes use these materials to facilitate voting by non-citizens. As I have testified, multiple instances of voter fraud have involved non-citizens voting -- by using bilingual ballots -- from Hawaii to Georgia.
So what can be done? The best thing would be to repeal the onerous provision -- but not even a Republican-controlled Congress has been willing to take on that fight. Short of repeal, the very least that should be done is stopping the Census Bureau from inflating the number of jurisdictions required to provide bilingual materials based on phony limited-English-proficient numbers.
The current chairmen of the House subcommittees charged with overseeing enforcement of the Voting Rights Act's bilingual provisions have asked the assistant attorney general for civil rights and the head of the bureau to abandon the flawed methodology now being used. In a letter this week, Reps. Trent Franks and Trey Gowdy urged the bureau to adopt the common-sense approach of considering anyone who says they speak English "well" on the Census form as English-proficient.
At least this standard would result in fewer unnecessary bilingual ballots from being printed. But the only way to stop this nonsense is to eliminate the requirement for bilingual voting materials altogether. Furthermore, there is another reason to oppose them: they balkanize our nation.
Our original national motto is "E pluribus unum" -- out of many, one. While we come from all over the globe, we are united as Americans. This unity means that we hold certain things in common. We celebrate the same democratic values, cherish our many freedoms, and champion equality under the law. Our common bonds must also include an ability to communicate with one another through a common language: English.
In our struggling economy, there is no better time than now than to stop wasting money on bilingual ballots.
They don’t want Americans to vote anyway.
Someone needs to sue because of the confusion caused by the unnecessary foreign verbiage on the ballots.
Arabic !! Where’s the Arabic
La Raza Linda Chavez trying to pretend she now wants to defend American culture from the latino onslaught.
I think you may have Linda mixed up with someone else. She has fought bilingual education and for the official public use of English all along.
I choose to communicate by eyeblinks in Morse code. Please hire Morse code wink experts for all the voting locations across the land in case I choose any of them, so my rights will not be disenfranchised. Thank you...wink wink
Emphasis mine. Sameo Sameo.
I don't see the need for bilingual voting ballots. After all, one must be an American Citizen to vote, and in order to become a naturalized citizen one must demonstrate a certain level of literacy and competence in reading and writing the English language, right? I am right aren't I? sarc/
Several States have voter ID laws. Texas passed ours this year, after Governor Perry made it an emergency priority bill.
Agreed. Worse, “identity politics” breeds bigotry and racism.
“I think you may have Linda mixed up with someone else.”
No, I know that La Raza witch all too well. She and her POS assistant John J Miller made a career out of attacking those of us who wanted an end to illegal immigration. Here’s a recent sample:
“Americans abhor extremism. It is the reason our democracy has lasted for more than 200 years and why we have rejected both socialism and right-wing radicalism. American political parties have generally hewed to the center, unlike their European counterparts, so that even major political shifts moved the country only from center right (as in the Reagan and Bush administrations) to center left (as in the current administration). It is a lesson that both parties should take to heart, but one that poses special problems for the Republicans as one group of extremists attempts to hijack the GOP on a single issue: illegal immigration.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2653063/posts
I agree with her on birthright citizenship. It’s a stupid move and one of the few issues on which I disagree with my Representative Lamar Smith. If I were planning on splitting the Republicans on immigration, I’d introduce a bill changing the meaning of he 14th Amendment.
On the other hand, Napolitano’s intention to introduce amnesty should unite us and bring in new conservatives who haven’t identified with us in the past.
Could you be mixing Linda Chavez-Thompson and Linda Chavez-Gerston?
You are correct, except in one special case. Those born in Puerto Rico are citizens upon birth, but English is not the predominant language of the island. Thus Spanish ballots should only be issued to someone born on the island of Puerto Rico. Present proof of Puerto Rican birth and then you can receive a biligual ballot.
English needs to be made the official language. If they can’t read an English ballot, they shouldn’t be voting because they obviously can’t understand the local English news or newspaper and certainly can’t understand what the English speaking candidates are saying. How bleepin’ hard is it to recognize a candidate’s name in English? What, like it suddenly changes spelling in another language??? If you can’t read anything but Arabic or Chinese then how in blazes do you pay the electric bill or drive a car?
They’re all liars and cheats. Back in my young and naive days, I worked for the government which hired supposed US citizens but so many claimed they didn’t understand English. Funny thing was if their paycheck wasn’t there at 4 pm on the dot, they were suddenly fluent in English to come complain to me about it. Again, they’re all liars and cheats.
Heck, I’m even sick of everyday consumer goods being in Spanish.
That's a good start, but I was referring to the fight against foreign-language ballots: Case in point (from BallotPedia):
"The Texas English Language Amendment will not appear on the November 2011 general election ballot in the state of Texas as a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment.
The measure was pre-filed with the Texas Legislature before the legislative session started in January 2011. The bill, House Joint Resolution 38, would have made English the official language of the state and would also have required government business to be done in English. It was filed by State Representative Leo Berman, who said that the measure would also make all state documents published in English-only. The bill was filed on November 16, 2010.[1]
The 82nd session of the Texas State Legislature adjourned on May 30, 2011. However, Gov. Rick Perry called a special session of the Texas State Legislature that commenced May 31, 2011 in early June and adjourned June 29, 2011. Eight amendments were proposed during the special session, but none passed. Including this proposal."
If you cannot read English you are likely not eligible to vote and you should not be allowed to vote.
I’m speaking of Linda Chavez-Gerston, who held some minor positions in the Reagan Administration. Whose nomination for Secretary of Labor under Dubya was derailed when her own illegal alien maid became known.
Linda Chavez and her protege over at NRO, John J Miller, have a long career of smearing anti-illegal alien activists. If you want amnesty and a bigger flood of illegal aliens, Linda Chavez is your gal. Don’t be fooled by her token pro-English language posturing.
If you can’t vote in English, you shouldn’t be voting.
Spanish ballots only make it much easier for ACORN & ACCE recruits to vote in elections where they are NOT qualified to vote.
I certainly cannot wait for a serious TEA Party or Republican candidate to be in the White House & NObama perp-walked into prison, along with his minions & czars.
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