Voting Rights Act
Section 203 Compliance
Orange County, CA
Neal Kelley, Orange County Registrar of Voters
55.2 Standards for Measuring Compliance
• Material should be
provided to allow voters
to be effectively informed
and participate
• All election related
materials are provided in
four languages (oral and
written assistance)
Encouraging participation through detailed community based programs and
services assists us with compliance
55.9 Coverage of Political Units in County
• Where required all
political units within
subdivision have the
same requirements
• We conduct all elections
and created a “City Clerk
Partnership” to ensure
joint compliance
In 2006 cities were unaware of potential implications of need to comply and
City Clerk Partnership was born
55.15 Affected Activities
• Requirements apply to
any registration forms;
instructions; assistance;
or other material “relating
to the electoral process”
• All election materials are
translated (into text and
audio); sample ballots;
forms; etc.
Electronic ballots contain translated audio as well as translated written ballots
in every polling place
55.16 Standards and Proof of Compliance
• Compliance is best
measured by results and
relationships with
community based groups
• Community Election
Working Group; 30 events
per year; strong
relationships with
advocates
We are the only California county to maintain a 25 member advisory group
and work extensively with language based media
55.16 Standards and Proof of Compliance
• On-going data analysis
and documentation is
critical
• Bi-annual report
produced; maps and data
analyzed in detail and
record keeping critical to
show “substantial
compliance”
Voting Rights Act Compliance Report began in 2010 and provides extensive
details on our compliance and includes targeted data
55.18 Provision of Minority Language
Materials and Assistance
• Materials provided by
mail; public notices;
registration activity;
polling place activity;
publicity
• All mailed material
translated; voter
instructions; notices;
registrations
30% of Orange County’s poll workers are bilingual and can provide oral
assistance
•
55.19 Written Materials
Obligation of jurisdiction
to decide what should be
translated; accuracy and
completeness critical
• System in place to
translate all materials
through certified
translators; “6-layer”
proofing key to success
Meaning of words can (and does) vary by County; Spanish word for Sheriff
has a different meaning in Los Angeles County than Orange County
•
55.20 Oral Assistance and Publicity
General announcements
and publicity should be
given in oral form to the
extent needed by the
community
• Full-time bilingual
support; bilingual support
in polling places; limited
use of Google translation
Individual pages translated on website through “toggle feature” and use of
Content Management System
55.20 Oral Assistance and Publicity
• We support Spanish;
Vietnamese; Korean and
Chinese (all written form)
• 2006 increased
calculations by 20% to
provide added support
and padding
We are only California county to provide additional 20% coverage which has
increased our need for bilingual poll workers substantially
55.20 Oral Assistance and Publicity
• How do we calculate
needed assistance in
polling places?
• Spanish and Vietnamese
use language requests;
Chinese and Korean place
of birth
Language requests are used when birthplace or surname issues arise and
provides a more accurate representation of language needs
55.20 Oral Assistance and Publicity
• 1 poll worker for 25-99
voters; 2 poll workers for
100-299 voters and 3 poll
workers for 300+ voters
• Without padding
cancellations could
possibly effect coverage
Each of our bilingual poll workers has access to our bilingual poll worker
handbook (translated) and each wears a welcome badge
Number of Bilingual Polling Places
Voter Registration by Place of Birth
Number of Bilingual Poll Workers
Recruited
Thank you
Neal Kelley
Orange County Registrar of Voters