Earlier this year, over 40 civic groups advocated for the ing of California Assembly Bill 844, which would require California’s Secretary of State’s Office and county officials to identify language needs and translate voting materials, significantly expanding language access to the ballot.
But in a disappointing setback, Gov. Gavin Newsom recently vetoed the bill. As the 2024 presidential election approaches, many voters from underrepresented communities will face challenges in obtaining voting materials in their languages. The failure to provide adequate multilingual voting materials leaves these language groups disenfranchised and underrepresented. In a state as diverse as California, we must lead the way in ensuring that everyone can fully participate in the democratic process.
The Voting Rights Act requires that election materials be provided in languages spoken by non-English speakers given that they represent 5% of the voting-age population in a county or that there are 10,000 such voting-age individuals in a county. California’s state law mandates translated ballots in precincts where at least 3% of voters speak a language other than English. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau, used to determine language needs, often undercounts language minority groups, leaving many voters without the language assistance they need.
For example, according to a report from the California Language Access Workgroup, Middle Eastern and North African immigrants have historically been counted as White in the U.S. Census, making it difficult to obtain an accurate count of the population and the languages they use. In San Diego, 11 languages and/or communities receive assistance to the ballot and election materials. However, languages such as Somali have been available only on a facsimile ballot, instead of a votable ballot, which many find confusing and inadequate. Somali voters have to request these facsimile ballots at the polls, and with many poll workers speaking only English, they often have to rely on English-speaking friends or family for assistance.
Additionally, speakers of Latin American Indigenous languages such as Zapotec and K’iche’, are also often undercounted in the U.S. Census since it counts language in much less detail than it does race and ethnicity. For example, although census data reports 22,024 people of Latin American descent in Los Angeles County who speak a language other than English or Spanish, suring the Section 203 threshold of 10,000 voters, it does not identify the languages spoken by these respondents. This lack of detailed census data makes it harder to determine which languages require translation, leaving many without the they need to participate civically.
Research has shown that the Voting Rights Act’s language minority provisions can significantly increase voter participation when implemented. For example, a study examining Latino and Asian American voters found that jurisdictions covered by Voting Rights Act language provisions saw a 14 to 16 percentage point increase in Latino voter registration and a 15 to 18 percentage point increase in Asian American voter turnout, compared to similar areas without coverage. This highlights the critical role that multilingual assistance plays in engaging minority communities that might otherwise be excluded from the electoral process.
When voters from underrepresented language communities lack proper access to voting materials, they are left in the shadows unable to fully engage in the democratic process. To address this problem, the Secretary of State’s Office and the Office of the Governor must take proactive steps to allocate funding, identify minority language groups and provide election materials in their native languages. As one of the most diverse states in the country, California should lead by example in ensuring that all minority language voters have access to the ballot, only then can we build a truly inclusive democracy.
Cobian is a senior fellow at the UCLA Voting Rights Project and lives in Los Angeles. Sahid is the founder and executive director of the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans and lives in San Diego.
