By: Chris Martinez
Spanish Speaker voters residing in Cuyahoga County will continue to have access to a Bilingual Ballot, after the expiration of an Agreement, under the Voting Rights Act, between the Department of Justice and the Board of Elections.
Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it determined that racial discrimination in voting had been more prevalent in certain areas of the country. As relevant to the Agreement, Section 4(e)(2) “No person who demonstrates hat he [she] has successfully completed the sixth primary grade in . . . the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in which the predominant classroom language was other than English, shall be denied the right to vote in any Federal, State, or local election because of his inability to read, write, understand, or interpret any matter in the English . . .” is the primary bases for the Agreement.
Pursuant to the Agreement, in U.S. v. Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Case No. 1:10-cv-01949 (N.D Oh, Sept 3, 2010), there are several requirements. The Agreement spells out requirements for bilingual written materials and pool workers, among some of the most important provisions. Moreover, the Agreement calls for the creation of a Spanish Language Advisory Board. The Spanish Language Advisory Board was created to give feedback on the implementation of the changes according to the Agreement. The Agreement expires in 2014, as long the requirements per the Agreement have been meet.
Initially, there was a disagreement among members of the Board of Elections regarding the implementation of a Bilingual Ballot. Some members initially preferred to provide Bilingual Ballots to only areas with a high concentration of Hispanics. Ultimately, Bilingual Ballots became available for the first time in Cuyahoga County pursuant the Agreement. The need became more apparent according to the U.S. Census in 2010, which indicated that the Hispanic population in Cuyahoga County has grown, by a 30.15%, from 41,078 in 2000 to 61,270 in 2010. Currently, Hispanics in Cleveland amount to over 9.96% and 4.79% of Cuyahoga County. Approximately, over 34,000 of the Hispanics residents in Cuyahoga County are Puerto Rican.
Although a Bilingual Ballot became available, and is currently available, there was always a thread that upon the expiration of the Agreement, March 2014, the Bilingual Ballot will no longer be available. Members of the Board of Elections, namely, Eben O. Sandy) MacNair IV and Robert Frost became the spokesmen’s for the Board of Elections on this issue. Among some of the concerns, regarding the availability of Bilingual Ballots for the entire county, was cost and the perception of a disfavorable view of a Bilingual Ballots by the county residents. Members of the Spanish Language Advisory Board along with community members expressed a continuous support of the Bilingual Ballot after the expiration of the Agreement, among other provision. Members of the Board of elections such as Eben O. (Sandy) McNair IV – Democratic Party Member, reserved resistance to the continuance of the Bilingual Ballot even after the recommendations of the Spanish Language Advisory Board and members of the general Hispanic community. Robert Frost – Republican Party Member, affirmed a stand of continuing the Bilingual Ballot beyond the expiration of the Agreement in Cuyahoga County, after hearing the suggestions of the Spanish Language Advisory Board and members the Hispanic Community.
Due to the differences in views within the Board, the Board of Elections decided to conduct a survey with the intention to assess and confirm the advise from the Spanish Language Advisory Board and the Hispanic community. On Election Day, November 5th, 2013, an exit poll survey was conducted along with a survey of the Hispanic community during November – December 2013 and a landline phone survey during November.
Baldwin Wallace University Community Research Institute conducted the survey for the Board of Elections. With a cost of $25,000 the survey confirmed the recommendations of the Spanish Language Advisory Board and the Hispanic Community members, who that had meet in various occasions with the Board of Elections to express the need to continue the Bilingual Ballot and provisions of the Agreement, after its expiration.
On January 13, 2014 during a Spanish Language Advisory Board meeting members of the Board of Elections, representatives of the Department of Justice and community members among others attended, attended to discuss the survey results. During this meeting, Robert Frost, Republican Member of the Board of Elections, affirmed his commitment and Eben O. (Sandy) MacNair IV, Democrat Member, accepted the continuance of the Bilingual Ballot. Therefore, as of now the availability of the Bilingual Ballot will continue in Cuyahoga County.
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