NGUOI VIET 2
Under Massachusetts law, areas that have at least 5 percent of residents with limited-English proficiency who speak a common language must offer election materials and ballots in that native language. The problem? The law expires on Dec. 31.
Throughout Dorchester and the state, advocacy groups want to have that expiration date removed.
“We really want to get the community together to show how important this is,” Phi Tran, a coordinator for the Dorchester Organizing and Training Initiative, told Boston.com. “There has been some push back against the cost, but we’re trying to show that it is needed and does help get people out to vote.”
Opponents say that to become a citizen one must be able to speak and write English, making the ballots useless. Additionally, those opponents said voters may use interpreters.
Tran disagreed that the ballots are unneeded.
“When people don’t have that encouragement and confidence to vote it disenfranchises a community,” Tran told Boston.com “Living in a new country is about getting involved and bilingual ballots are a way to involve and empower people.”
