Why Have Foreign language Ballots?

Only U.S. citizens may legally vote. In order to become a naturalized American citizen, our laws require that you demonstrate "an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write and speak . . . simple words and phrases . . . in ordinary usage in the English language."

So why do we provide ballots to vote in U.S. elections to people who don't speak English? Because federal law requires that if more than 5%, or more than 10,000 of voting-age citizens, in a county don't speak English, the county must follow the language-access provisions of the Voting Rights Act and translate election materials into their language.

How did this language get in the law? Because the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was amended in 1975 to add a "language minority" section. But wasn't the 1965 Voting Rights Act written for the benefit of black Americans — and don't they speak English? And wasn't this Act one of the big achievements of the civil rights movement of the 1960s? Yes. But the Voting Rights Act was hijacked by the multicultural activists whose purpose was to get the votes of minorities who do not speak English.

In the election of 2002, the Department of Justice ordered more than 335 jurisdictions in 30 states to provide ballots, signs, registration forms, and informational brochures in foreign languages. This unfunded mandate cost the states at least $27 million. Nationwide, more than 220 jurisdictions provided election materials in Spanish, more than 100 in the languages of American Indians or Alaskan natives, and more than 15 in Asian languages.

Denver and seven other Colorado counties had to print election ballots in Spanish (as well as English). Two Colorado counties had to provide language services for Navajo and Ute residents.

In California, Los Angeles and Orange counties offered ballots in Vietnamese. Santa Clara County printed ballots in Vietnamese, Chinese, Spanish and Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines). San Mateo and Alameda Counties printed ballots in Spanish and Chinese. Los Angeles provided ballots in seven languages: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese, as well as English.

Montgomery County, Maryland offered ballots in Spanish. For the first time this year, voters in Queens, New York were provided with ballots in Korean. Ballots in Chinese and Spanish have already been in use in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Cook County, Illinois provided ballots in Chinese as well as Spanish.

The Voting Rights Act is actually very discriminatory. It doesn't cover all immigrants who don't speak English; it applies only to "those language minorities that have suffered a history of exclusion from the political process: Spanish, Asian, Native American, and Alaskan Native."

Printing ballots in foreign languages is fundamentally anti-democratic because fair elections depend on public debate on the issues and candidates. people who don't understand the public debate are subject to manipulation by political-action groups that can mislead them in language translations and then tell them how to vote.