Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- The ACLU of Utah urges election officials to help voters with limited English proficiency.
- Recommendations include translating materials, increasing outreach and hiring bilingual staff.
- The ACLU emphasizes language access as a civil right to enhance civic engagement.
SALT LAKE CITY — United States citizens who speak limited English can have a tough time navigating the U.S. election system. As Election Day looms, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah says election officials should bolster their efforts to help the population.
At a broad level, county clerks across Utah should "really get to know their communities" with a focus on finding the pockets of people with limited English proficiency to better understand their needs, says ACLU Utah Communications Director Aaron Welcher.
More specifically, an ACLU Utah report released last week offers eight recommendations to election officials across Utah to assist anyone with limited English proficiency, or LEP, in U.S. government parlance. They entail translating election materials into other languages, bolstering outreach initiatives to LEP communities and getting bilingual staff and poll workers.
"Because Utah has a high population of LEP individuals, all jurisdictions should actively undertake meaningful efforts to ensure language access for voters," reads the report. Those with limited English can include naturalized U.S. citizens from abroad as well as Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans, who are U.S. citizens, and members of Native communities.
Given the concentration of Spanish speakers in Salt Lake County and Diné Bizaad and Ute speakers in San Juan County, election officials in those two counties are already required to take extra steps to help the populations, per provisions of the federal Voter Rights Act. But the ACLU calls for more widespread efforts across Utah even if not required by law; or risk disenfranchisement.
"No jurisdiction in Utah expressly prohibits LEP individuals from voting, which would be illegal. Yet registration materials, ballots and other election-related information are often not available in LEP voters' primary languages," reads the report, which doesn't include options on covering the cost of bolstering outreach. "This lack of language access impedes the ability of LEP voters to meaningfully and fully engage with and understand the voting process, becoming the practical equivalent of a prohibition on voting."
Citing U.S. Census Bureau data, the ACLU reports 140,000 people with limited English proficiency in Utah, though not all are necessarily eligible voters. Of those, an estimated 104,106 mainly speak Spanish, 5,963 speak the varied languages of China and 4,409 speak Vietnamese. Another 1,897 speak Diné Bizaad, the language of the Navajo population.
The LEP population totals 77,533 in Salt Lake County, the largest concentration in Utah, according to Census Bureau data cited by the ACLU. Of those, more than 53,000 speak Spanish. Next comes Weber County, 25,464 in all; Utah County, 24,305; Davis County, 8,789; and Washington County, 5,338.
Language access is not just a matter of convenience — it's a civil right.
–Aaron Welcher
ACLU officials aren't asking counties to implement the varied recommendations in the new report before Election Day, next Tuesday, though they hope election workers are mindful of the rights of LEP voters. They distributed a shorter, preliminary report on the matter to election officials around Utah last year, according to Welcher. Rather, he said, the aim is to keep the issue in the forefront of election workers' minds. "This is going to be an ongoing campaign. This is laying that groundwork," he said.
At any rate, ACLU reps plan to have a focused presence in San Juan County on Election Day to make sure officials there abide by terms of a settlement agreement aimed at making sure Navajo Nation residents get extra voting assistance. The agreement stemmed from a 2016 lawsuit by Navajo Nation residents against San Juan County alleging violations of the Voters Rights Act. "San Juan is definitely getting extra focus," Welcher said.
Among the ACLU recommendations are increased efforts by election officials to pinpoint the range of "language needs" in their communities, translation of written election materials into varied languages and multilingual outreach efforts to those who speak limited English. The ACLU also calls for bilingual staffers, poll workers and volunteers, which, the organization said, some counties already provide.
"Language access is not just a matter of convenience — it's a civil right," Welcher said.
Beyond that, the ACLU says increased outreach efforts to limited English speakers will bolster political participation. "This increased participation will increase civic engagement, create more representation within government and give LEP individuals in Utah a more effective voice in government," the report reads.
