Posted on 07/22/2002 12:00:30 PM PDT by Sweet_Sunflower29
Voting material would be required in Spanish
Because of an increase in immigrants from south of the border, Santa Barbara County is about to be designated as officially bilingual, requiring local election officials to publish voting material in Spanish and English.
County Clerk-Recorder Ken Pettit said the county was notified by the state that the "bilingual" designation is likely to be handed down in September -- just a month before Election Day, Nov. 5.
"This could cause some angst, because we go to the printer the first week in September, and we won't receive the federal guidelines until then," he said. The cost of making the changes is currently unknown, he said, "but we expect a punch in the budget."
The U.S. Justice Department can declare a county bilingual (or multilingual, like Los Angeles) when more than 5 percent of its population does not speak English as its primary language. The nation's current voting rights laws, which have changed over the years, mandate that election materials must be made available in the foreign language when the 5 percent threshold is reached.
Figures from the 2000 census show that about 54,000 people in the county -- roughly 15 percent of the population -- speak Spanish as their primary language. Guadalupe has the highest number of Spanish speakers, with 38.9 percent, and Santa Maria follows with 28.5 percent. Latinos account for 34 percent of the county's overall population.
The county has for years conducted voter outreach in Spanish, provided some election materials in Spanish at polling places, and has recruited bilingual poll workers in Spanish-speaking precincts.
But the sample ballots that are mailed to voters' homes are not printed in both languages, and the Justice Department is likely to want that changed.
"We don't yet know what kind of compliance they will order, but it's a huge logistical issue and the process of preparing for the upcoming election is already well under way," said county elections manager Bob Smith. "The bottom line is, we will comply to the best of our ability."
Mr. Smith said that elections officials plan to meet with Latino community leaders to forge a plan for meeting the needs of Spanish-speakers in the November election.
Latino leaders hailed the upcoming changes as a good way to boost civic involvement among Spanish-speaking voters.
They also anticipate complaints from some conservatives.
"Although many people read and write and speak English well, they are more comfortable reading important information in their native language," said Alex Rodriguez, a candidate for the Santa Barbara School Board and member of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC.
"But I am sure there will be a backlash, particularly from conservatives, the same people who are right now going after the Latino vote."
Mr. Rodriguez noted that current laws require that real estate and car purchasing contracts be made available in Spanish, "and voting is just as important as buying a car or a home."
Santa Maria LULAC member Gil Armijo said he expects Spanish ballots will increase voter turnout and result in a more informed electorate.
But he also believes there ought to be a sunset on the number of times a person can request one.
"I work with many Spanish speaking people, and they also tell me that they wish their English was better because they recognize the importance of mastering English to succeed in the economic, educational and social life of American society," he said.
"They want and need to improve their literacy skills. Sunsetting bilingual ballots would create the need to learn English."
The county is unsure what the new designation will mean exactly, because the criteria for compliance has changed over the years.
In Ventura County, which was declared bilingual in 1990, the county has expanded its offering of Spanish materials incrementally, said Bruce Bradley, the assistant registrar of voters.
Ventura provides Spanish language materials at polling places in Oxnard, Santa Paula and Fillmore, and it mails Spanish language sample ballots to 8,000 registered voters who request them.
The sample ballots cost about $40,000 to print each election season, about 10 percent of the printing budget, he said.
At one time Ventura printed some voter instruction materials in both Spanish and English, and people complained.
"People got upset and ranted and raved, because they think you have to speak English to be a citizen, which of course is not true," Mr. Bradley said.
"So now we mail English language instructions to the English speakers and Spanish to the Spanish speakers and everyone is happy."
Although Ventura County has been providing materials in Spanish for 10 years, Mr. Bradley said, voter participation has not increased.
"The turnout has not improved in those areas, but has gone down every year," he said.
Mr. Pettit said preparing the materials in Spanish is important, "Because we are a nation of immigrants, a crazy quilt of color and tongue and size, and of sex and shape, and we're proud of that quilt. It's who we are."
But he, too, expects grumbling.
"Sometimes I get in trouble with people whose ancestors came on the Mayflower," he said, "But there's a kind of white European purist who gets upset when services are provided in something other than English."
I can almost hear Mr. 'County Clerk-Recorder Ken Pettit' lisping away excitedly, as he pressed onward for his underlying Diversity agenda.
No habla Ingles.....
Sure we are. I'm one of them. That's not the point. Why stop at Spanish? I can just hear it now, "For English, press one. For Spanish, press two. For Russian, press three. For Arabic, press four. For Italian, press five. For Icelandic, press 6. For...."
Yes, but how many are US citizens who are eligible to vote??? Not to mention, how many of them are even here legally!?!
If you'd like the Democratic Party to select for you, please stay on the line.
Sure, citizens must be proficient in English, but thats not what we're talking about.... This law is unnecessary, in my view, because if the Demo Party workers and state-employee social workers are going to register non-citizens, they can bloody well help them fill out the mail-in ballot.
Oh, and they do.
Ahh, did that percentage of the voting population take their test to become Citizens in ENGLISH as is required by law?
I didn't think so.
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