CLICS/CLICS2024A/commsumm.nsf
PUBLIC
BILL SUMMARY For LANGUAGE ACCESS FOR ELECTIONS IN COLORADO
INTERIM COMMITTEE LANGUAGE ACCESS ADVISORY BOARD
Date Nov 12, 2024
Location SCR 357
Language Access for Elections in Colorado - Committee Discussion Only
|
|
|
09:14:35 AM |
Chair Rutinel called Hilary Rudy, Deputy Director of Elections, Colorado Department of State, to begin her presentation. She begain by telling the board how election materials are translated into different languages, explaining that it varies by county and that some counties are covered by Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act (Section 203). She stated that most of her office's elections materials are translated by staff members who are fluent in both English and Spanish.
She told board members that currently, only written materials in many counties are translated into Spanish but that counties covered by Section 203 have both online and written materials provided in Spanish.
She explained that there is a language hotline that voters can call for translated ballot information in any language and provided data on the number of calls made to the hotline during previous elections.
She talked about design principles for readability for bilingual ballots and answered questions from the board members.
|
|
09:22:45 AM |
Ms. Rudy stated that
American Community Survey five-year estimates for languages spoken at home
can change which counties must provide bilingual ballots to registered
voters, and that Pueblo County is approaching the threshold for Spanish
language ballots.
Ms. Rudy answered questions from the committee about whether the Secretary
of State's office uses a technology platform that automatically translates
materials into a variety of different languages. She explained that counties
are required to post signs in polling locations with information about
the language hotline.
|
