Congress should renew the Voting Rights Act. The provisions mandating language assistance for voting are particularly important.
A few members of Congress have challenged the language assistance provisions, which became part of the Voting Rights Act in 1975.
With a few exceptions, immigrants seeking citizenship are required to learn English. However, voting materials can often be confusing and complicated, even for those who speak English as their first language.
Even many native-born citizens have a difficult time navigating complex election materials because of language barriers.
Voters with limited-English skills are American citizens, and like all American citizens, they too have a stake in our democracy. They build businesses, work hard to provide for their families, pay taxes and serve in our military. Our country is better served when we ensure they have full access to voting, which is one of the most fundamental acts of citizenship.
Sadly, many American citizens for whom English is a second language continue to face obstacles when participating in the political process. In the last election, monitoring groups documented several instances around the country where hostility and abuse occurred.
In 2005 in Washington state, one man challenged the right to vote of more than 1,000 people with foreign-sounding names. He targeted voters with names that, he said, “have no basis in the English language” or “appear to be from outside the United States,” while omitting voters with names that sounded American-born, like Smith or Powell.
In Bayou La Batre, Ala., when a Vietnamese-American ran for local office, supporters of a white candidate were challenging the eligibility of only Asian-American voters.
And in Boston in 2004, poll workers at one site segregated white voters and minority voters into two separate lines, trying to speed up the voting process.
Federal language assistance provisions could help ensure that all citizens are safeguarded against such discriminatory treatment.
Protections provided under the Voting Rights Act have helped increase voter participation among Asian-Americans, Latinos, American Indians, and Alaskan natives.
Elected officials can then be more responsive – and accountable – to communities’ needs. And officials can become more representative of their constituents. In 2002, Harris County, Texas, was required to offer language assistance to Vietnamese-speaking voters. Just two years later, a multilingualVietnamese-American candidate won a state legislative seat for the first time in Texas.
The enormous benefits of higher voter turnout and participation outweigh the nominal costs to state and local jurisdictions for providing language assistance. According to a 2005 Arizona State University study, a majority of jurisdictions covered by the language provisions reported incurring no additional costs for providing language assistance.
Regardless, there ought not be a price tag on a more inclusive democracy.
The language-assistance provisions expire next year if Congress does not act soon. Congress must reauthorize them to ensure that advances for minority voters are not rolled back.
A healthy democracy depends on maximizing – not impeding – the ability of citizens to cast their ballots.
Karen Narasaki is president of the Washington-based Asian American Justice Center.
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