One would think that when an immigrant becomes a naturalized citizen, he or she would be able to vote in local and national elections. But in Mendocino County, you must speak English if you wish to vote.
The United States Voting Rights Act of 1965 was amended in 1975 to say that any county in which at least 5% of the population primarily speaks a foreign language must provide ballots in that language to the voters. While the state of California offers voter registration forms in Spanish, Mendocino County continues to block the process of offering Spanish language ballots to the public, unless the voter knows to request one in advance. Why is this county an exception to the law? The number of Spanish-speaking citizens in Mendocino County, according to the last census, is about 20% of the population, well above the minimum 5% standard. Our county elections officer, county clerk Marsha Wharff, refuses to acknowledge this fact.
Richard Johnson, a Mendocino County local, has been working alongside the Alianza Para Derechos Humanos, the Alliance for Human Rights, to collect the 3,500 signatures needed to force this issue to the voters. They have also been trying to push this initiative through the county Board of Supervisors for an immediate vote, which would save the time involved in gathering signatures. If this initiative is delayed too long, the Spanish-speaking community could forever be denied access to the ballot; the Voting Rights Act expires in 2007.
The county continues to segregate its naturalized citizens by impeding their right to vote. The hardships these people faced in Mexico follow them here to the States, where they're treated as second class citizens, working menial and often dangerous jobs for poor pay. Here in Mendocino County they are disenfranchised as well. What kind of example are we setting for Latino youths who can't even watch their own parents go out and vote, and take part in the political process?
A large portion of the students in our county schools are Latino. We are doing nothing but alienating these future voters of America by not having a Spanish language ballot. The time has come for a change.
We must do this as a whole, and aim at informing and influencing the entire county, to be successful. The task of collecting these signatures should not be the responsibility of one man, nor one segment of the population, but rather the concern of a motivated community ready and willing to make things change.
If our ballots are printed in Spanish as well as English, a great bond can be made between the county and the Spanish-speaking communities within it. It is extremely important for the Latino communities (and for us all) to become more involved in the political decisions that are made for them, rather than by them. The path has already been laid for us; now all we have to do is walk it.
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2003
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