California Secretary of State Alex Padilla is facing a lawsuit in connection with its directive regarding voter language assistance for voters with limited English proficiency.
Civil rights groups alleged that Padilla deprived tens of thousands of California voters of the language assistance to vote. They argued that under the state law, minority groups are entitled to receive language assistance in voting.
In December, Padilla issued a directive requiring country election officials to provide translations in precincts where 3% or more of the voting-age residents are members of a single-language minority.
California language assistance limited to seven etnicities
In their complaint, the civil groups noted that Padilla only provided assistance for languages spoken by seven ethnicities including:
- Chinese
- Mandarin
- Cantonese
- Tagalog
- Ilocano
- Korean
- Khmer
- Vietnamese
According to them, “The Secretary’s determination to limit language assistance to the languages spoken by the seven ethnicities covered in California under the federal VRA was wholly improper and lacks any basis in the statutes text or purpose.”
