Anyone ever wonder why there are ballots and election material in so many languages? That can’t be cheap to produce, requiring people to do careful translation and vetting, to ensure the information is consistent across languages. In fact, I have to wonder…does this make it easier for illegals or others who aren’t qualifed to vote? It would have to.
Only Citizens Should Vote
I did a little research. It turns out that to become a US Citizen (and be able to vote in federal elections), the prospect must pass a naturalization test that measures English language proficiency as well as a knowledge of our history and government. They define proficiency as being “able to read, write, speak and understand English.” The test involves reading a sentence, writing one and responding to questions in a way that shows proficiency. There have been exceptions made for age or disability, but you have to be able to manage English to be awarded citizenship. So, why do we need these ballots?
Turns out, these multi-lingual ballots were mandated in the Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965 and amended over time. But it was primarily designed to enshrine voting rights for Blacks, and while some were illiterate, having ballots in other languages wouldn’t help them. We shouldn’t need them, instead spending money to help illiterate citizens gain the ability to read an English language ballot. In 2024, 330 jurisdictions provided approximately 24 MM non-English federal ballots. If we look at local elections, it is much, much higher. This is an expensive and really, illegal boondoggle and should stop.
Voting is a Privilege, not a Right
To make citizenship important, voting should only be permitted to those who’ve made a commitment to our country, learned the language and have some appreciation of our history, our government and our values. Why assimilate if you don’t have to learn English? And, in fact, if you don’t actually read and understand English, you only have a select amount of information with which to make decisions. It isn’t right that non-English speakers can vote, and it encourages too many not to bother to learn English.
The abuse potential is clear. With groups like Acorn, and even the DMV willing to hand out voter registrations without proof of citizenship, we make it easy for too many to cheat. Being an American means something; voting is how we get the government our values demand, not the government foreigners would prefe
r. Any citizen can readily get ID to register, there are countless ways to improve English proficiency, for free or on the cheap. There is really no excuse.
You don’t have to be a college grad to understand a ballot. Now, to really go into the propositions, you do need to read the more complex legal language, but most of us know people we can ask.
Fair Elections
We should all want fair elections (except the candidates, perhaps). Multi-lingual ballots increase the likelihood of fraud and decrease representation of those who understand our civic norms and legal processes. There are too many ways to commit fraud in elections these days. No longer do ballots have to be dumped in Lake Michigan, as was common in the bad old days of Chicago.
If you must be competent in English to become a citizen, you should have to have the same competency to vote. Only trolls seeking to skew elections want it to be different.
Absolutely right. Unfortunately, as we know, this is never going to change. It’s like a cartoon I saw once with John Wayne saying “why do I have to press one for English?” 🙂