From Journal & Topics writer Tom Robb
Britton, Morrison Champion Expanded Cook County Ballot Language Access
Translations For 8 New Languages Available By November 2020, More In 2021
Two new languages will be added to ballots in the March 2020 Presidential Primary Election in Cook County, with six more languages added by the November 2020 General Presidential Election, backed by a unanimous vote by Cook County commissioners.
County commissioners Scott Britton (D-14th) and Kevin Morrison (D-15th), both who represent parts of the North and Northwest suburbs, were lead sponsors of Voting Opportunity and Translation Equity, or VOTE ordinance.
Currently, ballots and voting instructions are available English, Spanish, Chinese and Hindi. The ordinance, passed unanimously by commissioners at their Oct. 22 meeting, mandates ballots and other election materials be made available in Korean and Tagalog (spoken by Filipinos) in the March 2020 election, and in the Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Gujarati, and Urdu languages for the November 2020 election.
Gujarati is spoken in India, Bangladesh, Fiji, Kenya, Malawi, Oman, Pakistan, Reunion, Singapore, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, along with communities in the United States and United Kingdom.
Beginning in 2021 elections, ballots and election materials will be fully translated into any languages where a community of 13,000 people or more with limited English proficiency exist within Cook County.
Read the full article at Journal & Topics HERE.
