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After years of advocacy by the Coalition for Asian American Voting Rights and the City’s elected officials, H. 4880, An Act Relative to the Preparation of Certain Ballots in the City of Boston, has been passed by both the Senate and the House. This bill, which will ensure full and equal ballot access for Asian-American voters in Boston, was signed into law by the Governor on July 31st (the Governor’s Birthday!) in a ceremony with many of the elder Chinatown residents and activists who have worked so hard for this bill over the years.
The bill, which was championed by Sen. Chang-Díaz and Rep. Aaron Michelwitz (both of whom represent Chinatown), protects voting rights of Chinese- and Vietnamese-American voters by providing for fully translated ballots in precincts where there are concentrations of these language groups. In particular, on Chinese-language ballots, it provides for the transliteration (phonetic translation) of candidates’ names in federal and state in Boston. Currently in these elections, other words on the ballot are translated, but candidate names—the most important piece of information—appear only in English, making the voting experience uncertain for many voters. This legislation will now allow names to be translated for all elections (as they currently already are in Boston’s municipal elections).
With bilingual ballots, United States citizens whose primary language is Chinese or Vietnamese will be able to vote freely and independently. Bilingual ballots are most needed by the elderly, who have the most difficulty learning English. Elderly, long-time residents are exempted from the English language portion of the citizenship exam if they have had permanent residency for upwards of 15 years. These are the voters who were the staunchest advocates for bilingual ballots.
Boston launched Chinese and Vietnamese bilingual ballots through an agreement with the US Department of Justice in 2005, but the agreement expired in 2008. Since then, the Coalition for Asian American Voting rights has been tirelessly advocating for bilingual ballots to be extended. Additionally, we could not have won success on this bill without the support of Mayor Menino, Elections Commissioner Geraldine Cuddyer, and the entire Boston City Council, including former City Councilor Sam Yoon. Special thanks also go out to the entire Boston delegation in the Senate, who co-sponsored the bill this session, and the chairmen of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Election Laws, Rep. Michael Moran of Brighton and Sen. Thomas Kennedy of Brockton. Finally, assistance from the national Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Greater Boston Legal Services also helped get this bill over the goal line. This legislation was truly a team effort!
(Photo Credit: Melina Munoz, 2010)
