Hearing on Bilingual Chinese, Vietnamese Ballots Draws Record Turnout

Simplified Chinese characters for "China" or "Chinese" (Image from chinese-symbols.com)

The following article is from Korean American Press.

On Monday May 5, 2008, more than 300 Boston residents, many of whom were Chinese and Vietnamese senior citizens, came to City Hall to give public testimony in favor of a Boston Home Rule Petition guaranteeing fully bilingual ballots in the City of Boston.

Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who represents Chinatown, testified in favor of the bill, as did dozens of community leaders.

City Councilor Michael Ross chaired the hearing.

"After witnessing firsthand the passion of so many active and engaged voting residents of Chinatown, I don't see how anyone could fail to recognize the importance of allowing people to be able to vote freely and secretly, without coercion, without intimidation, and without someone pointing to names on their ballot," Ross said.

Bill sponsors Councilors Sam Yoon, Michael Ross and John Connolly were joined by Councilors Chuck Turner, Maureen Feeney, Stephen Murphy, Charles Yancey, Mark Ciommo and Bill Linehan.

Councilors were educated on the need to have candidates' names, in addition to ballot instructions, fully translated.

"This measure will ensure that Chinese- and Vietnamese-speaking citizens are able to participate fully and independently in our elections," Yoon said. "It is our responsibility to do everything we can to encourage citizens to participate in our electoral system."

Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin submitted a statement to the Council reaffirming his opposition to the practice of transliterating candidates' names into Chinese. He said he believes it would be confusing for Chinese voters.

Dozens of Chinese voters testified that they could not understand who they were voting for unless names are transliterated.

The City Council is expected to vote on the matter in one of the next two sessions.

source: bostonKAP.com

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