Posted on 08/28/2006 6:55:19 PM PDT by SandRat
PHOENIX -- Some Arizonans are lashing out at the state's campaign finance agency for its bilingual candidate pamphlet, which critics call an affront both for reasons of language and cost.
The Citizens Clean Elections Commission received 17 letters and faxes critical of the pamphlet mailed to all voters' households before the primary election, and a commission aide said dozens more people telephoned the commission's Phoenix office to complain.
The criticism of the bilingual pamphlet, mailed to 1.6 million Arizona households, comes at a time of increased debate concerning illegal immigration and several months before Arizonans vote on a legislative referendum to make English the state's official language.
"This is really irritating," one letter writer, Ira Larsen of Tucson, said during a telephone interview. "To me, to print those things in Spanish is ... unpatriotic in a sense that English is our primary language and our Founding Fathers determined that."
The primary election version of the commission's pamphlet opens with 106 pages of candidates' statements in English and follows with the same statements translated into Spanish on the same number of pages.
"This is AMERICA not Mexico and our language is ENGLISH not Spanish," Mike and Judy Lairmore wrote in a July 27 letter. "We resent our hard-earned tax dollars being wasted like this."
Larsen's July 24 letter said it doesn't make sense to print the pamphlet in Spanish because voters must be citizens and naturalized citizens must be able to read and write English.
"It's time we get real and quit bending over for people who don't qualify for full participation in this democratic process, which seems to be fading, I'm sorry to say," Larsen wrote.
Some of the other letters and faxes were unsigned, with one person scrawling an unprintable suggestion to the commission.
Michael Becker, the commission's voter education manager, fielded many of the calls complaining about the pamphlet.
"I referred them to their congressmen and explained the Voting Rights Act" and 1975 amendments that imposed the mandate, Becker said.
A 1998 voter-approved state law that created the Clean Elections funding system for state election campaigns also mandated that the commission publish pamphlets with statements submitted by candidates. A federal law intended to protect minorities' voting rights requires that Arizona produce the pamphlet, like other election materials, in both English and Spanish, officials said.
"It's not something new," Assistant Attorney General Diana Varela, the commission's lawyer. "The bottom line is it does have to be translated."
Becker said the total cost of producing and distributing the primary and general election pamphlets would be approximately $1.3 million. He said he didn't have a breakout for the costs in providing the Spanish-language portion except that translations cost $12,000.
The commission gets its funding _ most of which pays for financing provided participating candidates _ from surcharges on criminal and traffic fines, voluntary contributions to the funding system and penalties assessed against candidates for violations.
Commission members during a recent meeting discussed whether the commission could scale back the Spanish-language portion of the pamphlet. One suggestion was to separate the pamphlet and provide the Spanish-language version only on request.
That wouldn't fly legally with the U.S. Justice Department because it would put a burden on Spanish-speaking voters that English-speaking voters wouldn't face, Varela said.
___
On the Net:
Citizens Clean Elections Commission: http://www.ccec.state.az.us
U.S. Justice Department civil rights section: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting
I wish they'd just follow the US Constitution.
This is something that the Canadians went through when they allowed the Frenchies in Quebec to turn that Country into a bi-lingual nation and everything had to be in English and French.
The idea that we have allowed this to happen makes me so d^mn mad.
The ability to speak English is a requirement to become a citizen. Is it enforced? I don't know. But being that it is the law, every voter who is legal and eligible should be able to read english. No need for another language.
Hey, watch yourself down there....could get some water.
ping
Hell, I'm from Frisco and we've had TRI-lingual ballots for years.
One of our notable politicians, elected regularly to office here, showed up at an Immigration ceremony for new citizens. She was GETTING her citizenship. Finally.
It's the wave of the future.
In the 1800s all leases in St. Louis were in German and English.
Relax.
I agree with you whole-heartedly and I am an immigrant so I do believe that all immigrants should develop some level of English fluency. The sad part is that the Voting Rights Act makes multiple language pamplets mandatory. Need to change the Voting Rights Act to get back to primarily English.
YEAH! C'MON WITH IT! Finally somebody has some 'nads to stand up and say "Enough is enough".
GO GET 'EM!!!!!!
Sounds like we need Ira Larsen to run for office. What office? I don't care; just run and when you get there set a can of "Whoop A**" on your desk that can be opened on a moment's notice.
The mailed out to 1.6 million households and got 17 complaints.
Come on now! If the ballots weren't printed in Spanish, how could the illegals vote for the correct RAT candidates?
It should stay far east. may get some rain but nothing bad.
>>>One suggestion was to separate the pamphlet and provide the Spanish-language version only on request.
About one also in Chinese, German, French, Russian, Korean, Greek, etc?
Where does it stop?
English Only.
I used the Spanish section as bad camping TP and great stuff for starting the camp fire.
I hope my post is not stoking the flames, or is it?
Take care and always continue to be true to your beliefs. It's a matter of life or extinction for us and our progeny.
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