New York: Spanish, Chinese, Bengali and Korean are the only languages besides English that will feature on New York’s ballot. New York is often referred to as the melting pot of America, home to immigrants from all across the globe. More than 200 hundred languages are spoken in the concrete city, making it one of the most diverse cities to live in. Immigrants from different parts of the world who call it home might not always speak or be fluent in English, which does not only make it difficult for them to carry out everyday conversations, it can also pose a serious problem when it comes to picking the right candidate on the ballot.
New York authorities in an effort to minimize the incorrect voting and make it easier for immigrants, who do not speak English as their first language, to understand and participate in the voting process. The state has introduced four languages – Spanish, Bengali, Chinese and Korean – to cater to the millions of immigrants residing in the city from these countries. Spanish and Chinese are two of the most widely spoken languages in the country, with many native speakers unable to speak or understand English fluently. It is the same story with thousands of Bengali and Korean speakers in the city that will be greatly helped by this move by the state government.
“We are required to service four other languages besides English. It is Chinese, Spanish, Korean and Bengali as the Asian languages,” says Micheal J Ryan, Executive Director, Board of Elections, NYC. The move to add Bengali to the Ballot came from a legal requirement to improve language access for voters. Millions of speakers of these languages will be greatly impacted by the decision to introduce languages to the ballot. The addition of languages other than English will greatly lessen the likelihood of any mishaps and misunderstanding while selecting a candidate.
The decision to introduce Bengali to ballot also stems from a lawsuit filed against the inaccessibility of languages faced by the South Asian community in the crowded parts of the city. The settlement requires the state to introduce an Asian Indian language to the language to improve the accessibility of languages to other communities, especially the Indian community, which makes up the second-largest immigrant population in the country. After considerable deliberation, Bengali was selected as the Asian language that will appear on the ballot.
More than choice, this decision came as a legal requirement under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that requires New York City to provide ballots in other languages other than English in at least some polling booths in the city. The law protects minority rights by ensuring language support is offered to them at the polling sites. A Bengali ballot appeared in New York City for the first time in 2013, two years after the federal government’s decision to introduce Bengali to American ballots.
