Get rid of the foreign-language ballot?

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Warning about the future
“Once your district adopts these kinds of policies, their members are often defenders of these policies,’ he said. “If this proliferation of foreign language ballots continues to penetrate into America, the most vocal opponents will be the ones standing in the last read outs,” in other words the last bastions of English speakers.

That encirclement of English speakers, of course, has not yet happened and may never happen, but King said, “That’s the direction it is going. Assimilation is losing, division based on ethnicity and race is winning. That’s dividing America.”

Some observers predict King will not succeed.

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Prof. Daniel Tokaji of the Ohio State University School of Law, an expert on the Voting Rights Act, said, “I expect in the end the language assistance provisions will probably be renewed because I don’t think the Republican Party is particularly anxious to alienate Latinos.”

Terry Ao, senior staff attorney at the Asian American Justice Center, rejects King’s arguments.

Ao argued, “Providing language assistance is something that allows both native-born citizens who have unfortunately not been able to become fluent in English, as well as newly naturalized citizens, the opportunity to participate in our democracy.”

It’s a matter, she said, of “not penalizing them for not yet learning English to the level where they can participate in the voting process.”

A permanent fixture?
If House leaders find a way around King and Congress does re-authorize the expiring parts of the Voting Rights Act, they will last until 2032.

That will mean that the foreign language requirement will have been the law of the land for nearly 60 years, not a permanent law, but something very well-entrenched.

Even though the foreign language ballot mandate seems to becoming permanent fixture, Ao said there’s still a need for it. “There are still remnants of discrimination that warrant the continued protection of the Voting Rights Act and section 203, in particular,” she said.

“It’s not just about immigrants,” Ao said. “It’s also about native-born citizens who have not been able to achieve fluency in English, from Americans Indians to Alaskan natives to Puerto Ricans and other Latino Americans and Asian Americans who were born here, but because of educational disparities or other reasons have not been able to obtain fluency in English,” she said.

Tokaji, another critic of King’s effort, said, “Look at ballot initiatives today. They’re very complicated, even for those of us whose first language is English. Imagine trying to make sense of such a complicated ballot measure in a language that is not your first language. Why anyone would want people to be casting uninformed votes in these circumstances is beyond me.”

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