PUBLIC ADVOCATE FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK

Letitia James
March 20, 2014

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL Michael Ryan, Executive Director New York City Board of Elections 32 Broadway New York, New York 10004 Dear Mr. Ryan: I am contacting your office to ensure that the Board of Elections (BOE) takes adequate and swift measures to improve language access for all eligible voters in New York City. After receiving several complaints, I am neither confident that the BOE has taken steps to provide a sufficient number of trained interpreters nor assured that voter registration materials have been accurately translated. With the upcoming federal elections in June, it is imperative that we work to remedy these matters in the best interest of a fair and democratic election process. Under Chapter 46, Section 1054 of the New York City Charter, I serve as a member of the Voter Assistance Advisory Committee. In that role, my duties are to encourage and facilitate voter registration and voting by all residents of New York City who are eligible to vote and to identify groups or categories of residents who are underrepresented in voting. Language assistance in all aspects of voting is critical to ensuring that voters can participate in elections. Nearly 40% of New Yorkers are foreign born, many of whom may require language assistance, and it is important that we are able to address any issues far in advance of any upcoming elections. As you know, the BOE is required to provide language assistance under Section 203 of the federal Voting Rights Act. 42 U.S.C. 1973aa. However, it has been brought to my attention that voter registration materials in Bengali and Korean have not been accurately translated, and that those voter materials contain numerous errors that could result in the denial of a right to vote in those language communities. I have attached corrected Korean and Bengali voter registration forms that illustrate some of the translation errors. Furthermore, we also have received complaints regarding the lack of available Spanish-language interpreters at poll sites that have a heavy concentration of Spanish-speaking voters. The inadequacy of bilingual assistance at poll sites could result in the denial of Spanishspeaking voters to participate in elections.

1 CENTRE STREET

NEW YORK NY 10007

TEL 212 669 7200

FAX 212 669 4701 WWW.PUBADVOCATE.NYC.GOV

PUBLIC ADVOCATE FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK

Letitia James

Additionally, the BOE polling sites must provide greater interpretation services for New Yorkers who are Deaf so that the City is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. BOE must have American Sign Language interpreters and work to incorporate technology as a means to bridge that gap by employing such services such as the Communication Access Realtime Translation that provides real time translation in a shortened time span. There is simply nothing more important in a democratic society than equal access to the ballot box. We thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to working with your office to resolve these issues. We would like to meet with you to discuss these serious concerns. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

Letitia James New York City Public Advocate

1 CENTRE STREET

NEW YORK NY 10007

TEL 212 669 7200

FAX 212 669 4701 WWW.PUBADVOCATE.NYC.GOV