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Requirements:
Federal law requires all elections in Clark County be conducted in English and Spanish. On July 26, 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") notified Clark County that it was now subject to the bilingual election provisions of Section 203 of the Federal Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C. § 1973aa-1a) in respect to the Spanish language "based on 2000 Census data showing that there are a significant number of voting age citizens with limited-English proficiency within Clark County who require materials and information in their primary language to participate effectively in the political process."
Click here FOR the DOJ notice
A state or political subdivision (usually a county, but a township or municipality in some states) is subject to bilingual election requirements when Census data shows:
CLICK HERE FOR ALL U.S. LOCATIONS WITH BILINGUAL REQUIREMENTS (28 C.F.R. Part 55)
Implementation:
The Clark County Registrar of Voters provides registration and voting materials in both English and Spanish. These materials include registration notices, voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, and other materials and information relating to the electoral process, including ballots. This is mandated by 42 U.S.C. § 1973aa-1a(c).
Enforcement:
The DOJ enforces the Federal Voting Rights Act by "bringing lawsuits in federal court, by sending federal observers to monitor elections, and by working with local jurisdictions to improve their minority language election procedures" (http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/misc/faq.htm#faq13). |
1975 Congressional Passage of Language Minority Provisions of the Federal Voting Rights Act:
In 1975, Congress passed the language minority provisions of the Voting Rights Act (Sections 203 and Section 4(f)(4)) for a period of ten years. The provisions were extended in 1982 for ten years, in 1992 for fifteen years and in 2006 for twenty-five years.
Congress found that English-only elections excluded language minority citizens from participating in the electoral process, and that this was often aggravated by physical, economic and political intimidation (42 USC § 1973b(f)(1)). Congress declared that, in order to enforce the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, it was necessary to prohibit English-only elections (42 USC § 1973b(f)(1)). Voting standards, practices or procedures that denied or abridged the voting rights of any language minority citizen were prohibited (42 USC § 1973b(f)(2)).
2006 Congressional Reauthorization:
In 2006, Congress reauthorized the language minority provisions of the Act for an additional 25 years through The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006. Congress overwhelmingly passed the Reauthorization in both the House and Senate. All of Nevada's Congressional House Representatives and U.S. Senators voted for passage. The Reauthorization was signed into law on July 27, 2006 by President Bush.
Congress included the following findings as part of the Reauthorization:
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"Racial and language minorities remain politically vulnerable, warranting the continued protection of the Voting Rights Act of 1965....
"The record compiled by Congress demonstrates that, without the continuation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 protections, racial and language minority citizens will be deprived of the opportunity to exercise their right to vote, or will have their votes diluted, undermining the significant gains made by minorities in the last 40 years." |
As a result, covered jurisdictions, such as Clark County, Nevada, continue to provide bilingual written materials and other assistance.
More About Language Minority Voting Rights:
Detailed information is available from the DOJ at: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/sec_203/activ_203.htm |
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Additional information is available from the DOJ's Civil Rights Division, Voting Section:
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