Washington – A group of House Republicans wants to do away with bilingual ballots and translation assistance at the polls, a reflection of how tensions over immigration are pervading other issues.
As Congress readies to reauthorize the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the lawmakers are lobbying their colleagues to let the act’s language-assistance provisions expire.
The lawmakers support the act but say bilingual ballots and language assistance to voters – provided in Denver and at least seven other Colorado counties – undermine national unity, increase the risk of election fraud and put an undue burden on state and local governments.
“We believe these ballot provisions encourage the linguistic division of our nation and contradict the ‘melting pot’ ideal that has made us the most successful multiethnic nation on Earth,” the members said in a letter sent to Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. and the House Judiciary Committee in February.
Fifty lawmakers, including Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., signed the letter.
Will Adams, a spokesman for Tancredo, said the lawmaker is generally in favor of having ballots be only in English.
“You’re supposed to know English,” Adams said. “If you’re a citizen who’s in this country and legal to vote, you should know English. So it doesn’t seem necessary to have the ballot be in so many languages.”
Adams said Tancredo also believes that requiring the translation of ballots into any language a person requests is unfair to local officials.
The Senate and House are to conduct committee hearings next week on reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, prime sponsor of letting the language-assistance provision expire, plans to submit his proposal as an amendment in the House Judiciary Committee this week.
Analysts say the group’s effort probably won’t succeed, in part because of other Republicans’ concerns that it could further offend Hispanic voters upset by the enforcement-only immigration legislation the House passed in December.
Denver has been printing ballots in English and Spanish for several years after being designated a “bilingual county” by the federal government.
“We are a bilingual county by law,” Denver Election Commission member Wayne Vaden said Sunday.
The city provides Spanish-speaking election judges at all locations.
Vaden said Spanish-speaking judges provide directions on where to go and what to do at polling places, but they never go into the voting booth with voters.
At least seven other Colorado counties also have the “bilingual county” designation: Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Crowley, Otero, Rio Grande and Saguache.
Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., staunchly defended the language-assistance provision in the Voting Rights Act.
“If (immigrants) want to achieve the American dream, they better learn how to read and function in English,” Sensenbrenner said. “But this deals with the right to vote, and these people are United States citizens; they are not illegal immigrants. It seems to me these people should not be confused because they don’t have the proper instruction about how to vote on ballots for the candidates of their choice.”
King and his group say bilingual ballots cause election errors.
They also allege that bilingual ballots can make it easier for illegal immigrants to vote fraudulently.
Denver Post staff writers Jim Kirksey and John Ingold contributed to this report.
