The other day Secretary of State Brian Kemp unveiled the first of four non-English video tutorials on voter registration, absentee voting by mail, advance in-person voting and Election Day voting.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice of Atlanta and the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials were among the groups quickly applauding Kemp for translating online voter registration tutorials in Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The ProEnglish organization just as swiftly condemned Kemp and his multilingualism project, noting that English is Georgia’s official language of governmental operations and that Kemp is “undermining the law.”
“We hope this is the beginning of the Secretary of State’s office offering more in-language voter education materials and continue to support Asian Americans, Latinos, and all people of color as we carry on our fight for full access to participation in American democracy,” GALEO said in a statement.
ProEnglish countered with this statement to InsiderAdvantage:
“There is no reason to create a new financial burden on states or localities with a multilingual initiative that will have little impact for its citizens. Unreasonable demands by activist groups do not establish justification to change policies, especially when American citizens already have the right to bring translators with them to polling places. Several General Accounting Office reports, by the way, reveal that non-English tutorials regarding voter registration and ballot access are rarely used— probably because English proficiency is required for one to become a U.S. citizen.”
