nwasianweekly.com
May 27, 2006

Translated ballots fail without outreach

There’s a famous movie line that goes “If you build it, they will come.” The election office of Linn County, Oregon, might beg to differ.

The first in Oregon to offer Spanish-language ballots, Linn County is finding that no one seems to want to use them. Since becoming available this past year, not a single person has requested one.

This example teaches us this lesson: Translated ballots are useless if the community doesn’t help market them.

Linn County could learn a few things from us. In King County, Chinese-language ballots were mandated by law in 2002. Immediately after the announcement was made, the Chinese American community and the county took strong initiative to ensure the ballots would be requested, trusted and used.

A series of meetings were held between county officials and community members to discuss the implementation process and educate people on how to use them. The election office did not just send its Chinese-speaking liaisons to the meetings; elections director Dean Logan himself attended several of them to explain the importance of the ballots.

Groups like the Organization of Chinese Americans and the Chinese Information and Service Center held community meetings of their own to teach people how to use the ballots. They also advised the county throughout the implementation process, and continue to do so.

The county took out ads in the Seattle Chinese Post (the sister paper of the Northwest Asian Weekly) to publicize the arrival of the Chinese ballots. Articles were also written in a variety of newspapers, including the Seattle Chinese Post, the Northwest Asian Weekly, the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

When new voting machines were introduced, the county brought them to Chinatown/International District and showed Chinese community members, in Chinese, how to use them.

In a phone conversation with the Northwest Asian Weekly this week, Linn County clerk Steve Druckenmiller said outreach and education efforts were made. Newspapers and Spanish-language radio stations were contacted, leaflets were handed out and information was distributed at schools. The secretary of state’s office also helped. Druckenmiller speculates that this is an issue of trust in the Latino community; many, understandably, aren’t sure what to make of the U.S. government reaching out to them.

Despite no one using the Spanish ballots, Druckenmiller promises to translate the county’s next ballot in November. Good for him, even though he’s getting flack from people who think non-English speakers do not deserve the right to vote. This is an issue of access — of giving people equal opportunity to exercise their rights as Americans.

Next time, we recommend getting more Latino community members involved in the outreach efforts. When Spanish speakers see fellow Latinos endorsing the translation, even using the new ballots, they’ll be more apt to use one themselves. It helps tremendously when community members encourage family and friends to use them, as Chinese Americans in King County have. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool.

Many users of translated ballots come from countries where the government is not to be believed, where their vote doesn’t count. They need to trust these ballots before they use them. Then, they need to be educated on where to obtain these ballots and how to vote in America.

A number of close elections, most recently the gubernatorial race of 2004, have taught the voters of Washington state that every vote counts. So much effort is being put into these Chinese-language ballots because people know they could easily be the deciding factor in a race.

We applaud the efforts of the Oregon county to provide translated ballots for its Spanish-speaking voters. They are one important step towards empowering historically marginalized people and achieving a true democratic society. But keep in mind that outreach and education must be part of the game plan.

If you build it — then market it effectively — they will come.

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Northwest Asian Weekly • P.O. Box 3468 • Seattle • WA  98114
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