Language Assistance for Spanish-Speaking Voters
Best Practices for Inclusive and Accessible
Elections
Prepared for NACRC Legislative Conference
March 3, 2012
Washington, DC
Rosalind Gold, Senior Director of Policy, Research and Advocacy
rgold@naleo.org
Language Assistance Requirements of VRA for Spanish-speaking
Voters
 The Voting Rights Act has three
provisions that mandate language
assistance Spanish-speaking voters:
 Section 4(e) of the original Act
creates requirements for
jurisdictions with significant
Puerto Rican populations
 In the 1975 amendments:
 Section 4(f)(4)
 Section 203
Section 4(f)(4) Coverage
 Section 4(f)(4) requires coverage for
jurisdictions that
 provided only English-language
voting/registration materials in 1972;
 had relatively low voter registration
rates; and
 significant language minority
populations.
 Section 4(f)(4) coverage for Spanishspeaking voters:
 Texas and Arizona, in entirety
 12 counties/townships in four other
states
Section 203 Coverage
A jurisdiction is covered under Section 203 when:
 more than 5 percent of the U.S. citizens of voting
age of the jurisdiction are members of a single
language minority and are limited-English
proficient;
 more than 10,000 of the U.S. citizens of voting age
of the jurisdiction are members of a single language
minority and are limited-English proficient; or
 in the case of a jurisdiction subdivision that
contains all or any part of an Indian reservation,
more than
5 percent of the American Indian or Alaska Native
U.S. citizens of voting age within the Indian
arerate
members
a single
language
 reservation
The illiteracy
of the of
group
is higher
than the national illiteracy rate (illiteracy rate is
generally
by the level of
education).
minority determined
and are limited-English
proficient;
and
 Updated Section 203 determinations are now made on the basis of American Community
Survey data
Language Assistance Required by Section 203
 All voting materials must be provided in Spanish:
 Voter registration materials
 Voting notices (such as information about location
and hours for polling places, opportunities to register
and registration deadlines)
 Voting materials provided by mail
 All election forms
 Polling place materials and activities
 Publicity
 Ballots
Language Assistance Required by Section 203
 Oral instructions and assistance must
be available at every stage of the
process.
 Language assistance requirements
cover all elections, regardless of the
type.
 Language assistance does not need to
be provided to every citizen in the
jurisdiction; the jurisdiction can target
language minority citizens,
Section 203 Coverage for Spanish in 2011 Determinations
“Emerging Communities” Now Covered under Section 203
Some of the more notable jurisdictions now covered for
Spanish are located in areas that are not “traditional” Latino
population centers:
 Aleutians East Borough, Alaska
 Fairfax County, Virginia (metropolitan Washington, D.C.
area)
 Salt Lake County, Utah
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Best Practices for Language Assistance to Latino Citizens
 Election officials must make providing quality language assistance a top
priority for their office
 Language assistance efforts must be integrated effectively in the overall voter
outreach/voter education program of the elections office
 The staff assigned to the language assistance program must be very
knowledgeable about/familiar with the needs of the language assistance
community:
 Harris County, Texas: County clerk’s office has one Voter Outreach
Coordinator for each language minority/under-represented community:
Latino, Vietnamese, Chinese, African American
 Orange County, California: Also has outreach staff specifically dedicated
to each language minority community; outreach staff work year-round, and
Best Practices for Language Assistance to Latino Citizens
Translation of Materials
 Translation services provider should possess the
knowledge/experience with the Spanish-language
differences of the Latino national or sub-groups
of the jurisdiction (such as Mexican, Puerto Rican,
Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican)
 Ideally, staff or community members who are
familiar with those differences should also
review materials
 Careful proofreading and quality control for translated materials is critical
 The jurisdiction may have requirements about the type of and services which may
be used.
 For statewide ballot measures or matters, jurisdictions may save costs by
encouraging state election office to provide translation that can be used in every
Best Practices for Language Assistance to Latino Citizens
Pollworker Recruitment
 Outreach through Spanish-language media, including civic affairs programming
and public service announcements to educate public about pollworker opportunities
 Small community newspapers that serve language minority neighborhoods
 Work with your community working group to identify opportunities and
organizations to help with recruitment:
 Community and civic organizations;
 Ethnic chambers of commerce or other
business groups
 Government agencies that allow staff to take
time off on Election Day
 College students (particularly those involved
in studies related to political science, civics,
social studies, or those seeking community service opportunities)
Best Practices for Language Assistance to Latino Citizens
Voter Information and Education: Hotlines
 Callers should be able to easily reach individual who can provide
language assistance – direct phone line to bilingual staff is ideal
 Transferring callers several times, or telling them to call back is
very ineffective
 Automated systems should be checked
periodically to ensure that prompts work
and recorded information is up-to-date
 Have community members call hotline from
time to monitor responsiveness of operators or automated system
Best Practices for Language Assistance to Latino Citizens
Voter Information and Education: Websites
 Ideally, Spanish-language website should “fully-mirror” English-language site –
if the information is provided in English, it should be provided in Spanish;
http://www.es.votespa.com/portal/server.pt/community/home/13514/home/587980
Best Practices for Language Assistance to Latino Citizens
Voter Information and Education: Websites
 Voters should be able to easily find link to Spanish-language site.
 Many voters who need language assistance are new to the electoral process, and
need basic information about all aspects of registration and voting. Particularly
useful features:
Polling place locators
Election calendars and early voting information
Vote-by-mail application and information
Mobile access
Voter registration materials and status confirmation (re-registering after move)
Sample ballot lookup tool
Common election terms
Lists of Elected officials
Provisional ballot status
Information on how to use voting equipment
Best Practices for Language Assistance to Latino Citizens
http://www.votehillsborough.org/?id=2&spanish=Y
Best Practices for Language Assistance to Latino Citizens
Community Working Groups
 Regular convening of community members
who provide guidance and assistance to election
officials on voter outreach, education and
accessibility issues
 Working group should be able to meet with staff that can take
action to address issues raised by stakeholders
 Community members can be active partners in developing
solutions to challenges
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Largest and most comprehensive effort to
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Multi-layered integrated campaign – a
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To help mobilize the Latino
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