California does not serve its immigrants well by lack of translated voting ballots | Opinion

Last month, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed the Colorado Voting Rights Act. This landmark legislation will prohibit discrimination in elections and protect the state from democratic backsliding. It will make Colorado one the country’s leaders in voting rights.

One area in which Colorado’s bill holds lessons for us in California is its expansion of access to translated ballots for voters who need them. Under the law, over 70,000 Spanish-speaking eligible voters will be able to cast their votes in Spanish for the first time. I’m thrilled for the immigrant voters in Colorado who will benefit from this law, but I have to ask: What about the community of limited-English speaking eligible voters here in California, many times the size, still encountering language barriers when trying to exercise their most fundamental right?

California is the most diverse state in the country. We have more voters who don’t speak English as their primary language than any other state. There are over 200 languages spoken in the state and 45% of households speak a language other than English at home. Yet we are not a leader in the country when it comes to making voting more accessible to the millions of immigrant Californians who are eligible to vote.

Despite our incredible diversity, California does not require translated votable ballots beyond the minimum that the federal Voting Rights Act requires.

As executive director of the Jakara Movement, my team and I work with immigrant communities every day. Jakara Movement is a grassroots community-building organization working to support and organize working-class Punjabi Sikhs and other communities. There are around 150,000 Punjabi speakers in the state, and according to the census about 41% do not speak English very well. Yet they do not receive language services at the same level as other language groups. In fact, in no place in the state do Punjabi speakers get votable ballots in our language.

California does provide some services to Punjabi speakers. There are more than 10 counties (including Fresno) that in at least some precincts provide translated Punjabi sample ballots, known in state law as “facsimile” ballots. But these sample ballots are a poor substitute to an actual ballot; to use them, a voter has to find one in some corner of a voting site (often poll workers don’t know what they are or where to find them) and then hold it side by side with their English ballot. Many voters who need them don’t know they exist, and no one I know uses them.

Punjabi speakers aren’t the only voters that are not getting services they need. Fresno County members who speak Hmong, Chinese, Korean, Khmer, and Tagalog all have to struggle with translated sample ballots. And the large community of Arabic speakers simply gets nothing, because the law restricts translated materials to only speakers of Spanish and of Asian and Native languages. The Arabic-speaking community tried to get recognized by the Secretary of State to at least receive sample ballots and bilingual poll workers with little results.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly demonized immigrant voters. He’s made false claims for years that non-citizen immigrants are voting by the millions. He has issued executive orders seeking to establish English as the national language and attempting to require unnecessary proof of citizenship to register to vote.

That’s why, now more than ever, California must ensure voices like ours can be heard in elections. Our elected leaders must state clearly that immigrants belong in our democracy, and that a multi-racial democracy must be multi-lingual.

A diverse group of California advocates have been trying for years. This year, SB 266 (Cervantes) would have expanded languages services to voters across the state. Here in Fresno, it would have enabled Punjabi, Chinese, Hmong, Vietnamese, Khmer, and Arabic speakers, among others, to vote on translated ballots for the first time. The bill had bipartisan support but died in the Senate Appropriations Committee, suddenly and without explanation.

Last year, AB 884 (Low), would have made similar improvements. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed it.Sacramento talks a big talk about immigrant inclusion in the face of Trump’s dehumanizing rhetoric. Our leaders say they value the newest Americans and want them to feel safe in California. But they don’t walk the walk.

California should take a big step towards a truly inclusive democracy by following Colorado and ensuring equal access for our immigrant community members who are eligible to vote. Our democracy is stronger when it hears all voices.