ARMENIANS MAY GET TRANSLATED BALLOTS FOR LOS ANGELES ELECTIONS
By Dakota Smith
Los Angeles Daily News
April 27 2012
For some Armenians, the trip to the ballot box is daunting. More than
32,000 local Armenians say they have difficulty speaking English,
according to the census, forcing them to rely on translators, or skip
elections altogether.
Seeking to remedy the situation, Councilman Paul Krekorian and Council
President Herb Wesson want to explore offering ballots in the Armenian
language in municipal elections.
The pair have asked for a report on the cost of adding the language
to 2013 elections materials or phasing it in for the 2015 elections.
The high number of Armenians living in Los Angeles prompted the push,
Krekorian said. The 2010 Census reported at least 70,000 Armenians
live in the city, but Krekorian believes it’s closer to 200,000.
“It just made sense that we would try and do everything we could to
empower people to take part in these elections,” Krekorian said.
Under the federal Voting Rights Act, ballots must be translated in
numerous languages.
To qualify for translation services, a county must have more than
10,000 residents who speak a single language and mark themselves on
the U.S. Census as having limited English skills.
Since 2002, Los Angeles County provides voters in both county and
municipal elections information in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Japanese,
Korean and Vietnamese. In 2012, the county added translated election
information in Hindi, Khmer and Thai.
In addition, bilingual pollworkers provide language assistance in
Bengali and Gujarati.
The county also recruits over 6,000 bilingual pollworkers to assist
voters throughout Los Angeles on Election Day.
While there are more than 10,000 Armenians in Los Angeles County,
their language isn’t already on the ballot because they haven’t been
historically excluded from voting in the United States, another of
the requirements of the Voting Rights Act.
That means Los Angeles is essentially on its own in addressing the
issue, said Efrain Escobedo, manager of governmental affairs at the
Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters.
It could translate materials to Armenian or hire translators, or hand
out translations of ballots.
In West Hollywood, he said, poll workers help translate in Russian,
while Glendale workers help with Armenian in that city.
But the costs can be very high, he warns.
Yerimyan Tereza, 22, who lives in Little Armenia near Los Feliz, and
works as external affairs deputy at the Armenian National Committee
of America, Western Division, sees a big divide between the younger
Armenians, who speak English and the grandparents who struggle with
the language.
“Older (Armenian) people are voting, but they aren’t sure of themselves
when they vote,” she said. The motion, she predicts, would also help
new voters become more regular, confident voters.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_20491671/armenians-may-get-translated-ballots-los-angeles-elections