Hysteria over illegal immigration has boiled over into an ill-advised proposal that would limit American citizens’ access to our electoral process.
A group of Republican congressmen wants to dump bilingual ballots and the translators that are required at polling places in some counties across the U.S.
It’s a bad idea, and a good example of how some in Congress, including our own Rep. Tom Tancredo, have gone overboard on the issue. Reform of the immigration system is urgently needed, but false alarms like this one divert from the main issue.
The Republican lawmakers believe if they let the language-assistance provisions in the 1965 Voting Rights Act expire, they’ll be encouraging a more homogeneous society. But in reality, they will be chipping away at the rights of citizens. Doing so wouldn’t punish illegal immigrants – they can’t vote.
“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 multi- ethnic nation on Earth,” the lawmakers wrote to Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner and the House Judiciary Committee. Fifty lawmakers, including Tancredo, signed the letter.
Some citizens are just learning English and feel more comfortable voting in their native language. In Colorado, that’s typically Spanish.
Why disenfranchise those people? In the future, they may be reading and speaking much better English, but could use some help at the next election.
At least eight Colorado counties, including Denver, are required by federal law to provide ballots in Spanish as well as English, along with Spanish-speaking election judges.
The Senate and House are expected to hold hearings next week on reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act, and we urge sensible Republicans and Democrats, who aren’t frightened by foreign languages, to kill the backward idea.
Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, understands what’s at stake: “If [immigrants] want to achieve the American dream, they better learn how to read and function in English,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “But this deals with the right to vote, and these people are United States citizens.”
Doing away with Spanish-language ballots won’t encourage more people to speak English. It will only serve to disenfranchise American voters.
