Brief Limited English Proficiency Voters

Overview of the Population

As the U.S. population continues to increase, limited English proficiency voters represent a significant demographic. Whether U.S. citizens speak English fluently is not a requirement for voting. In fact, Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act mandates that states who meet certain population requirements provide language assistance to limited English proficient speakers. The determinations under Section 203 are made every five years and cover 331 jurisdictions in 30 states, each of which must offer voting materials in at least one language other than English.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2016 to 2021, there was a 26% increase of jurisdictions covered under Section 203 and a total of 24,244,810 voters. This expansion provides greater access to diverse languages and includes a wider range of voters requiring language assistance. In the 2021 determinations, 73 language minority groups were eligible for consideration, comprising 51 American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) language groups, 21 Asian language groups and one Hispanic language group (Spanish), according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Policies that affect those who are not proficient in English include providing translated election materials—ballots, voter guides, and instructional pamphlets—in multiple languages and offering translation services at polling locations. 

Federal Legislation

The VRA sets the floor for how states and jurisdictions should accommodate voters whose English is not proficient during the voting process.

• VRA Section 203: In 1975, Congress amended the VRA, originally enacted in 1965, and added Section 203 which increased voting access for U.S. citizens with limited proficiency in English. Section 203 requires any covered state or political subdivision to provide language assistance on election materials, including ballots. A jurisdiction is covered under Section 203 if it meets any of the following criteria: the voting group speaks a language other than English and comprises more than 10,000 individuals; the group represents more than 5% of all voting-age citizens; on an Indian reservation, the group makes up more than 5% of all reservation residents; or the group's illiteracy rate is higher than the national illiteracy rate. Every five years, the U.S. Census Bureau releases a list of jurisdictions that must provide language assistance for election materials in one or more non-English languages. The jurisdictions are contacted by the U.S. Department of Justice to be informed that they are covered and must provide both oral assistance and written materials.

To ensure compliance, the identifies polling locations that have a large population of language minority voters and surveys whether they are staffed by sufficient bilingual poll workers. The division also looks for language compliance on ballots, election pamphlets, newspaper notices required by state law, website information and other election information. 

• VRA Section 208: In 1982, the VRA Section 208 was amended to allow voters who needed assistance due to blindness, disability or inability to read or write to receive help from a person of their choice, excluding their employer or agent of their union. According to a 2023 Law Review from William & Mary, this provision is sometimes interpreted to include voters who need assistance in reading and writing in English for all stages of the voting process.

Policy Options to Address Potential Challenges

According to a 2020 study from the Pew Research Center, 40% of eligible voters who are immigrants say they speak English “less than very well.” These voters are U.S. citizens who have the right to vote but might not be fluent in English and could face challenges during elections. 

Some states and jurisdictions go beyond federal requirements to support their multilingual voters. Los Angeles, for example, is required by Section 203 to provide voting materials and assistance in six different languages but California goes beyond federal requirements. California Elections Code section 14201 further requires county election officials to provide bilingual support and translated facsimile ballots, also known as translated sample ballots, in precincts where 3% or more of the voting-age residents are members of a single language minority and lack sufficient skills in English to vote without assistance. State law requires one facsimile ballot to be posted prominently at the polling place and at least one to be available for voters to reference while casting their private ballots. If a significant need is identified, facsimile ballots will also be printed in other languages. These efforts add 14 more languages that Los Angeles County election officials must accommodate in addition to the six languages covered under Section 203. 

Similarly, Queens County, N.Y., provides language accessibility in five different languages for populations who are Asian Indian (including Sikh), Bangladeshi, Chinese (including Taiwanese), Hispanic and Korean. In 2018, New York voters voted for the establishment of the Civic Engagement Commission to offer language assistance in eleven non-English languages at select polling locations in New York City. 

State policies to assist non-proficient English speakers typically fall into two categories - providing translation of voter materials and providing language assistance. Translations may include essential voting documents like ballots, voter registration forms and informational brochures. Many states offer language assistance at polling places, including bilingual staff or interpreters, to help voters navigate the voting process and address any questions they may have..  

Translated Voting Materials 

Both ballots and information explaining the voting process are likely to be offered in translation. 

• Ballot translations: Ballot translations are provided to states that fall under Section 203 requirements. These translations include ballots, voter registration forms, websites, voter education pamphlets and even signage at polling locations.

• Voter education pamphlets: Many states have incorporated multilingual voter education pamphlets in their voting materials. Voter education pamphlets may include information on how and where to vote, language resources, election laws, candidate information and more. Jurisdictions that fall under Section 203 are already mandated to provide voter education pamphlets by federal law. Oregon is not required to provide language assistance under Section 203 but in 2021, the state passed a law requiring the secretary of state to ensure state and county voter pamphlets are translated in the five most spoken languages in the state, other than English. The bill also requires the pamphlets to be available on state and county websites and requires the secretary of state to consult with a Translation Advisory Council to ensure translations are accurate.

Voter education pamphlets come in a variety of formats. For example, Hawaii’s 2023 law requires the Office of Elections to create a digital voter information guide and translate it into Hawaiian and any other common languages. Washington provides audio versions of voter guides in Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese. Other states may mail voter education materials to the voter’s home address. A caveat is that not all states are required to have voter education pamphlets.

• Glossaries: The Alaska Division of Elections creates glossaries of election terminology in various Yup'ik dialects as well as other languages to support their large population of Alaskan Natives. This was a result of a 2008 lawsuit, Nick v. Bethel, that ordered the Alaska Division of Elections and Alaska’s lieutenant governor to provide a Yup’ik glossary of election terms, hire a language assistance coordinator fluent in Yup’ik, recruit bilingual poll workers or translators and provide sample ballots in written Yup’ik.

Additionally, some glossaries and election information are in audio and written format for those whose languages are unwritten. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission offers glossaries of election terminology that include nearly 1,300 phrases related to election administration. These glossaries are available in 20 different languages. This diversity highlights how languages can vary significantly, even within the same group; for instance, Spanish spoken in Cuba has distinct vocabulary, pronunciation, and expressions compared to Mexican Spanish.

• Phonetic translations: Sometimes candidates’ names are translated incorrectly on ballots that are non-English. This could lead to confusion for non-English-speaking voters and may misrepresent the candidate's name. California enacted Assembly Bill 57 in 2020 which requires jurisdictions that provide a translation of the candidate's alphabet-based names into a character-based language, such as Chinese, Japanese, or Korean, must also provide phonetic transliterations of the names. In Massachusetts, the cities of Boston and Malden require the use of transliteration on state, federal and municipal ballots for the Chinese population in the cities. Candidates have a seven-day review period to review the proposed transliteration of their own name. 

Audio Versions of Ballots

For some voters, including people with limited literacy and those who primarily communicate in oral-only languages, translations are not sufficient. Some policy options to consider for this population include: 

• Accessible voting machines: Within polling locations, each county is required by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 to have at least one accessible voting machine. Accessible voting machines not only support voters with disabilities but also voters who are not English-language proficient. These machines allow voters to listen to their ballot in the language of their choice, so long as it is a jurisdiction and language covered by Section 203 of the VRA.

• Bilingual poll workers: In jurisdictions that do not fall under Section 203, non-English proficient voters can be supported by bilingual poll workers. For example, Arkansas is not obligated to provide materials in Spanish but the state encourages hiring bilingual poll workers to assist voters. In a 2024 news interview with Your Local Election Headquarters, Kimberly Dennison, Benton County election coordinator mentioned how the county has strategically looked for bilingual poll workers and placed them in polling locations where there is a high need of language assistance. Many poll workers were high school students after Arkansas passed HB 1492 in 2019, joining 44 states and the District of Columbia in allowing students to work at polling locations. 

• Handheld translation devices: Denver provided handheld voice translation devices at 12 polling locations across the city for its 2024 primary election. The stand-alone devices supported up to 84 languages and allowed election workers to translate conversations, text, written words and signs. 

• Hotline: In 2022, Rhode Island enacted SB 2007 and HB 7100 requiring the secretary of state to provide a free multilingual hotline for the public with information about the electoral process, voting process, registering to vote and polling locations. 

• On-call interpreters: Alaska’s Division of Elections has developed a language assistance program that provides translated written and oral election materials in both traditionally written and unwritten languages, on-call interpreters on Election Day and bilingual poll workers and translators in communities where language assistance is needed. To ensure that translations are accurate, the Division staff collaborated with an eight-member panel of Alaskans fluent in Yup'ik dialects.