Minority Language Accessibility

as a Voting Right

With a Focus on Queens County, NY

Introduction

▧History of systematic exclusion of African Americans and naturalized citizens.

▧Upcoming Presidential Elections and racial tensions across the country makes this an important matter

▧Elimination of minority language protection is one of several newly imposed voting restrictions

15th Amendment“right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”

15th Amendment▧ratified on February 3rd, 1870

▧Highly ineffective due to techniques of direct disenfranchisement:• Fraud -- Ballot Stuffing• Violence -- U.S. v. Cruikshank• Poll Tax • Literary Test -- Eight Box, Secret Elections• White Primary -- One party states

Voting Rights Act - 1965declared that --

no person be denied the right to vote on account of race or color and placed strict

requirements in certain voting jurisdictions

President Lyndon Johnson

signing the Voting Rights

Act

Voting Rights Act of 1965

▧Eliminated literacy tests for voting▧Put an end to poll tax▧Appointment of Federal examiners to

register an eligible voters in Section 5 covered districts

▧Restricted jurisdictions with histories of discrimination according to Section 5’s formula, to get pre-clearance to any changes to ballots

1975 Amendment

Protection for Minority Lanaguage Citizens

1975 Amendment

Signs into law the Bilingual Voting Rights Provisions:

▧Section 4(f): prevents English - only elections where it is exclusionary

▧Section 203: mandate for ballots to be available in minority languages

Section 4(f)

States and jurisdictions are covered by this section when on November 1st, 1972:

▧over 5% of the voting-age citizens were members of a single language minority group

▧registration and election materials were provided only in English

▧less than 50% of citizens of voting age were registered to vote or voted in the 1972 Presidential election.

Section 203

Section 203 defines a coverage formula used to determine which jurisdictions are mandated by the Act. A jurisdiction where citizens of voting age in a language group:

▧Is more than 10,000, or▧Is more than five percent of all voting age

citizens or▧On an Indian reservation, exceeds five percent

of all reservation residents; and the illiteracy rate of the group is higher than the national illiteracy rate

1992 ExpansionSection 203 expanded to include

materials and information to be required in applicable minority languages.

Department of Justice

Regulates the laws defined by the Voting Rights Act

Department of Justice Duties

▧To inform each jurisdiction that is covered under Section 203 and to build minority communities’ awareness of the law.

▧To provide information to jurisdictions for compliance plans.

▧To enforce the Act through investigation of violation allegations and take appropriate action.

New York City Counties and Surrounding Counties

▧Bronx (Spanish)▧Kings (Spanish and Chinese)▧New York (Spanish and Chinese)▧Queens (Bengali, Chinese, Spanish , Korean,

Russian) ▧Nassau (Spanish)▧Suffolk (Spanish) ▧Westchester (Spanish)▧Staten Island (English only)

Official Additions

▧Spanish – 1970’s

▧Chinese – 1993

▧Korean – 2001

▧Bengali – 2011 (not compliant until 2013)

▧Russian – 2014 (not federally mandated)

Number of Minority Speakers in Queens

2000 # 2010 # 2000 % 2010 %

Other than English 1,119,178 1,160,483 53.61 56.90

Spanish 485,035 493,462 23.23 24.20Chinese 103,030 166,570 4.94 8.17Korean 57,445 56,701 2.75 2.78

Russian 36,515 34,596 1.75 1.70Bengali (Hindi) 17,675 19,868 0.85 0.97

Urdu 17,830 19,262 0.85 0.94

Interesting Facts

▧African American women are more likely to vote than their male counterparts.

▧Naturalized citizens are more likely to vote when minority candidates are on the ballot.

▧Asian voter turnout has increased by a modest 7% over the decade.

Current Status

June 2013 -- the U.S. Supreme Court (Shelby County V. Holder) struck down the coverage formula used for Section 5 of the VRA.

Jurisdictions no longer need to seek approval from the Department of Justice and show lack of discriminatory purpose.

However, Section 5 itself was not removed. Congress is left to devise a new coverage formula.

Potential Replacement

Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015 --introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

▧ Require states with well documented history of recent voting discrimination to clear future voting changes with the federal government

▧ Require federal approval for voter ID laws ▧ Outlaw new efforts to suppress the

growiung minority vote.

States under Section 5 Prior to 2013

9 States CoveredAlaska

ArkansasArizonaGeorgia

LouisianaMissouri

South CarolinaTexas

Virginia

States Covered under Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2015

13 Potential States CoveredAlaska

ArkansasArizona

California*Florida*Georgia

LouisianaMissouri

New York*North Carolina*South Carolina

TexasVirginia* States with partial coverage

Thanks!

Any questions?

Amrika BallyramPolicy Analysis Project