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U.S. Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division |
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| Office of the Assistant Attorney General |
Washington, DC 20530 |
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| | July 26, 2002 |
Ms. Nadine Parkhurst
Clerk of Board
1415 W. Melody Lane
Bldg. B
Bisbee, AZ 85603
Dear Ms. Parkhurst:
This is to advise you that the Director of the
Census has determined that Cochise County is now subject to the bilingual
election requirements of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.
1973aa-1a, with respect to persons of Spanish heritage. This determination was
made pursuant to criteria set forth in Section 203 and is based on 2000 Census
data showing that there are a significant number of voting age citizens with
limited-English proficiency within Cochise County who require materials and
information in their primary language to participate effectively in the
political process. The determination became effective upon publication in the
Federal Register. We are enclosing a copy of the Federal Register publication,
as well as a copy of relevant provisions of the Voting Rights Act and the
Attorney General's minority language guidelines.
Under Section 203, all information
that is provided in English about voter registration, elections, and voting,
including information provided in the polling places and the voting booths, must
be provided in the languages of members of the covered language groups to the
extent needed to allow them to participate effectively in the electoral process
and all voting connected activities. The requirement applies to information that
is communicated orally as well as in writing, but does not require that
information in minority languages be provided to people who have no need for it.
The obligations apply to all elections conducted by Cochise County. The same
duty applies to any other governmental units within Cochise County, such as
school districts or municipalities, to the extent they conduct voter
registration or elections.
The requirements of Section 203 take
effect immediately upon publication of the determinations and, therefore, they
must be implemented for the next election. A successful minority language
election program will require close, ongoing consultation with all segments of
the affected minority community. Such consultation will assist in ensuring
accurate translation of election materials, as well as the best ways to
disseminate election-related information to the language minority community. In
addition, the involvement of members of the language minority community will be
essential in meeting your obligation to promptly identify, hire and train
prospective bilingual poll officials for the upcoming election to be placed at
all precincts at which they may be needed.
The requirements of Section 203 are
explained in more detail in our enclosed guidelines. For example, Sections 55.19
and 55.20 provide information concerning written material, and oral assistance
and publicity, respectively. Section 55.17 discusses the process of "targeting"
information in the minority language to people who need it. We emphasize the
importance of ongoing communication with the jurisdiction's minority language
community, who can best identify the most effective channels of communication
and help identify bilingual persons to serve as poll officials. See Section
55.16.
One successful program may differ from
another, based on the particular local situation and the needs of the local
minority language community. However, there are elements that are common to all
successful programs, such as:
- Ongoing consultation with the language minority community;
- Procedures for translating
materials into the minority language e.g., translation by a trained
translator, review by community groups);
- Publicity, including use of
minority language media and selection of sites for posting or distributing
materials;
- Procedures to ensure voter
registration opportunities for language minority voters;
- Procedures for selecting sites to
have bilingual poll officials, and the identification, recruitment and
training of bilingual officials;
- Procedures for updating the program
based on population shifts or other new information;
- Procedures for oral translation and
obtaining answers to questions at the election offices and polling places;
- Backup procedures that can be put
into place promptly, if necessary;
- Record keeping (lists of bilingual
poll officials, details of outreach)
These elements are neither mandatory
nor exhaustive. A successful program will be tailored to local needs and crafted
in close consultation with the local minority community. We do hope, however,
that they are helpful to you in devising an effective program.
Jurisdictions also subject to the
special requirements of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973c,
must obtain preclearance of any
changes affecting voting that may occur as a result of implementation of the
minority language program. We fully appreciate the time constraints that you
face, and assure you that we are prepared to provide expedited review of your
program. We also note that what we will review under Section 5 are any
unprecleared procedures you adopt as well as the results of these new
procedures, e.g., the procedures
for providing election information in the minority language as well as the
quality of the minority language translations that make up the finished product:
we would review, for example, the procedures for translating materials into the
minority language without waiting for the actual translation of all
materials.
We hope that the information and materials we
have enclosed are helpful. Additional information is available on the Voting
Section Internet site at www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting. If you would like to discuss
this matter further, please feel free to contact Voting Section Special
Litigation Counsel John Tanner by phone at 202-514-2386 or by facsimile
transmission at 202-307-3961.
Sincerely,
Ralph F. Boyd, Jr.
Assistant Attorney General
Enclosures
