Boston’s Bill to Translate Ballots in Foreign Languages

Two legislators of Boston have filed a bill on Beacon Hill, to make sure that their voters don’t get lost in translation issue.

Boston used to have a lawsuit since 2005, which saw that the state translated ballots into Chinese and Vietnamese. This helped the Asian Bostonian voters easier to vote. This lawsuit has expired on 2008 and now the Beacon Hill needs a state approval to continue using bilingual ballots.

To make this happen Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and Representative Jeffrey Sanchez cosponsored a bill that asks the government to translate ballots, including candidates’ names, to Chinese and Vietnamese.

If this bill is passed by the legislation, Chinese ballots will be placed in some polling places in Chinatown and Allston; and the Vietnamese ballots will be placed in Dorchester.

There is a set of legislators who strongly support this bill and is likely to pass very soon.

The Spanish Ballots were already printed in Boston.

Updated: December 18, 2009 — 3:11 am
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