Title: Extending Bilingual Voting Material Requirements
Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to pass a bill that reauthorizes and expands provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that require state or political subdivisions to provide bilingual voting materials.
Highlights:
- Requires that bilingual voting materials be provided in any state or political subdivisions in which [sec 2 (1-3)]:
- More than five percent of voting-age citizens or more than 10,000 voting-age citizens speak a single non-English language and are unable to speak or understand English enough to participate in the electoral process; and
- The illiteracy rate of the citizens within the language minority is higher than the national illiteracy rate.
- Requires that bilingual voting materials be provided in a political subdivision that contains all or any part of an Indian reservation in which [sec. 2 (2) (A) (i) (III)]:
- More than five percent of American Indian or Alaskan Native voting-age citizens speak a single non-English language and are unable to speak or understand English enough to participate in the electoral process; and
- The illiteracy rate of the citizens within the language minority is higher than the national illiteracy rate.
- Defines "voting materials" as registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other materials or information relating to the electoral process, including ballots [sec. 2 (3) (A)].
- This bill was passed in lieu of S 2236.