By MICHAEL WARREN, GEOFF MULVIHILL and PHILIP MARCELO
Reproductive rights measures are on the ballots in 10 states after heated debates over how to describe their impact on abortion — and that’s just in English.
In 388 places across the U.S. where English isn’t the primary language among communities of voters, the federal Voting Rights Act requires that all elections information be made available in each community’s native language.
Such translations are meant to help non-native English speakers understand what they’re voting for. But vague or technical terms can be challenging, even more so when it comes to Indigenous languages that have only limited written dictionaries.
For example, New York’s referendum doesn’t even use the word “abortion,” complicating efforts to convey intent — advocates complain that the official Korean translation means “drop the fetus.” And how exactly should the science of “viability” in the Florida and Nevada measures be explained in the oral traditions of the Seminole and Shoshone tribes?
The Navajo and Hopi tribes get more material translated than most, and they have more than enough voters to sway outcomes. Under a federal court settlement with the Arizona Secretary of State, county elections officials gather community representatives to reach consensus on written translations. Navajo, Hopi and Spanish interpreters then do outreach and create spoken recordings for the touchpads also used by blind voters.
In most other places, other official English-language material including explanations of the measures’ impacts aren’t getting the same attention, said Allison Neswood, an attorney with the Native American Rights Foundation, which monitors compliance.
“Native language speakers should have access to all the information that English speakers have, including the language that explains the ballot initiatives,” Neswood said.
Other tribes have decided against written translations and instead post tribal…
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