FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 1995                              (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

    CALIFORNIA COUNTY REACHES VOTING RIGHTS AGREEMENT WITH THE
                       JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
                                
     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Chinese American citizens in Alameda
County, California will have an equal opportunity to participate
in future elections under a model election program, resulting
from an agreement reached today with the Justice Department.
     Under the agreement the county will adopt a program that
provides for bilingual poll officials and election materials for
its Chinese-speaking citizens.  It also allows for federal
monitoring of polling places to ensure the county's program is
working efficiently and effectively.  
     "The voluntary efforts of the local officials to resolve
this matter reflect true leadership on their part," said
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick.   
     As of 1990, there were more than 68,000 Chinese Americans in
the county and the number has increased rapidly since then. 
     "We are very pleased that the County of Alameda has reached
this agreement," said Michael Yamaguchi, United States Attorney
in San Francisco.  "This is important because it will bring a
significant amount of minority citizens into the mainstream
electorate."
     "The Justice Department is determined to protect the rights
of all citizens and will take every step to ensure compliance
with the Voting Rights Act," added Patrick.  "This case has been
a model example of local citizens at the grass root level
providing us with the facts so that we were able to enforce the
law." 
      The Justice Department has found that minority language
citizens often face untranslated and misleading election
materials and a lack of bilingual poll workers.  This agreement
will prevent such problems for Chinese American citizens in
Alameda county.
     Early this year, the Civil Rights Division established a
Language Minority Task Force to coordinate the enforcement of the
language provisions of the Voting Rights Act.  Citizens
throughout the country with information regarding bilingual
voting rights can call the task force at (202) 307-2767.
     The agreement will be presented to a federal court next
week.
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