***MEDIA ADVISORY***
WEDNESDAY: Wyandotte Unified Government to Consider Resolution Supporting Language Access for Voting Materials
CONTACT:
Esmie Tseng, ACLU of Kansas, [email protected]
WHAT:
The Board of Commissioners will hear testimony and consider a resolution introduced by Mayor Garner. The resolution calls on Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Michael Abbott to provide better language access for voters through translated election materials. Mayor Garner joins the many Wyandotte County residents and local organizations that have, for 18 months, requested the policy.
Spokespeople from several community organizations will provide testimony and be available for onsite interviews post-hearing.
WHEN:
Wednesday, October 30, at 7 p.m.
WHERE:
Commissioner Chambers, Lobby Level
Municipal Office Building
701 N 7th St, Kansas City, KS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
The Wyandotte County community has vocally and unequivocally supported language access.
- A petition supporting the issue has garnered over 1,000 signatures.
- Ten different local organizations first sent Abbott a joint letter in August 2023.
- In September 2023, Abbott refused to meet with the community organizations about the issue.
- An additional follow up in March 2024 restated the coalition’s requested actions, urging Abbott’s office to take steps toward providing meaningful, quality language access:
- Make all locally-produced materials and online content about Wyandotte County elections – including local elections – available in Spanish.
- Make printed materials available at all in-person voting sites, as well as online, informing voters of their right to receive language assistance at the polls from an individual of their choice.
- Make Spanish-language ballots, sample ballots, and informational materials available upon request, both at in-person polling places and through the advance voting process.
The demographic realities of Wyandotte County mean that providing Spanish-language information is urgent and critical for a representative democracy.
- There are nearly ten-times as many Spanish speakers as the next largest language group in Wyandotte.
- Over 50,000 residents in Wyandotte County speak a primary language other than English.
- Wyandotte County is one of the most racially diverse in the nation, with a population of over 30% Hispanic or Latino and 28% of its residents speaking a primary language other than English.
Expanding language access makes elections easier for voters and election administrators and well within the law.
- Federal law is the policy floor on this issue, not the ceiling. There is no legal barrier to election officials proactively providing more language access than what is required by federal law.
- Many jurisdictions around the country–with Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in Florida among the most prominent–have been providing language access far beyond what is required by federal law for decades, with no issue.
- By enhancing and expanding language assistance, election officials can demonstrate their commitment to the communities they serve.
- Claims that providing language access in one language would invite lawsuits from minority groups that speak other languages are patently false.
- There is not a single case brought under Section 203 where a minority language group sued a municipality for expanding language access for another minority group while failing to do the same for their group. Similarly, there is not a case in which a court ruled against expanding language access.
- This claim ignores the numerous examples of Kansas counties and local governments in other states that have taken the steps listed above to provide better language access without such legal issues.
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About the ACLU of Kansas: The ACLU of Kansas is the statewide affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of Kansas is dedicated to preserving and advancing the civil rights and legal freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For more information, visit our website at www.aclukansas.org.
