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POLITICS

US Monitors Ohio Election to Ensure Compliance with Bilingual Ballots

By Fox News
Published | Updated
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    DORAL, FL - OCTOBER 13: A voting machine welcomes people to insert their ballots in three different languages English, Spanish and Creole as Miami-Dade election officials go through the steps to check voting machines for accuracy at the Miami-Dade Election Department headquarters on October 13, 2010 in Doral, Florida. As America starts to cast ballots for the mid-term elections through early voting and absentee ballots, the Miami-Dade County Elections Department is conducteing an examination of its voting equipment. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (2010 Getty Images)

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    Voters line up at a polling station in a fire station to vote in Florida's presidential primary Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2008, in Coral Gables, Fla. More than a million ballots have already been cast, either through the early voting that began January 14 or in absentee ballots returned by mail. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) (AP2008)

Federal monitors are keeping an eye on the election in an Ohio county to make sure that it is complying with an agreement to offer ballots in Spanish.

Lorain County, west of Cleveland, has a growing Puerto Rican population.

The Plain Dealer reports the Justice Department observers want to see that the Voting Rights Act is being followed. It requires that ballots and election materials be supplied in other languages if those materials would be needed by a minority group making up more than 5 percent of the voting-age population.

Lorain County agreed to provide bilingual ballots county-wide and bilingual poll workers on a targeted precinct basis.

The agreement resulted from a voting-rights lawsuit brought by the U.S. Justice Department.
The Plain Dealer reports that Puerto Rican voters – who are U.S. citizens by birth -- who have limited English skills were not exercising their full voting rights because of inadequate resources to help them.

Bilingual ballots also are available in Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH'-guh) County, which includes Cleveland. It reached a similar agreement with the Justice Department last year.

Federal election monitors are also expected to be in California, Massachusetts, Mississippi and Texas, according to The Plain Dealer.

The newspaper says that between 2000 and 2010, the Puerto Rican population in Lorain County grew to 17,000 from 13,000, with about a third of the voting age members of the community reporting limited English proficiency.

In the run-up to the 2012 elections, the federal government is ordering that 248 counties and other political jurisdictions provide bilingual ballots to Hispanics and other minorities who speak little or no English.

That number is down from a decade ago following the 2000 census, which covered 296 counties in 30 states. In all, more than 1 in 18 jurisdictions must now provide foreign-language assistance in pre-election publicity, voter registration, early voting and absentee applications as well as Election Day balloting.

The latest requirements, mandated under the Voting Rights Act, partly reflect second and third generations of racial and ethnic minorities who are now reporting higher levels of proficiency in English than their parents.

Still, analysts cite a greater potential for resistance from localities that face tighter budgets, new laws requiring voter IDs at polls and increased anti-immigration sentiment.

This story contains material from The Associated Press.

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