BILINGUAL BALLOT FATE DEBATED ENGLISH-ONLY BILLS GAIN; VOTING ACT SCRUTINIZED.Byline: LISA The first personal computer to include integrated software and use a graphical interface. Modeled after the Xerox Star and introduced in 1983 by Apple, it was ahead of its time, but never caught on due to its $10,000 price and slow speed. FRIEDMAN Washington Bureau Betty Goldman was 4 when her family fled the Russian Revolution Russian Revolution, violent upheaval in Russia in 1917 that overthrew the czarist government. Causes The revolution was the culmination of a long period of repression and unrest. , immigrated to America and settled in Eureka, Calif. As an adult with only a primary-school education, Goldman spoke and wrote English well enough to become a naturalized nat·u·ral·ize v. nat·u·ral·ized, nat·u·ral·iz·ing, nat·u·ral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To grant full citizenship to (one of foreign birth). 2. To adopt (something foreign) into general use. U.S citizen. But at election time, Goldman always relied on her children to translate California's lengthy and complicated ballot measures. ``She could never really fully understand the propositions,'' Goldman's daughter, Sen. Dianne Feinstein Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein (born June 22, 1933) is the senior U.S. Senator from California, having held office as a senator since 1992. She is a member of the Democratic Party. , recalled at a Senate Judiciary Committee The U.S. Senate established the Committee on the Judiciary on December 10, 1816, as one of the original 11 standing committees. It is also one of the most powerful committees in Congress; among its wide range of jurisdictions is investigation of federal judicial nominees and oversight of hearing Tuesday on the future of bilingual ballots. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what she would have done if she didn't have us to read it and discuss it with her.'' As Congress debates whether to strip provisions requiring states to provide multilingual election materials from the Voting Rights Act Voting Rights Act Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1965 to ensure the voting rights of African Americans. Though the Constitution's 15th Amendment (passed 1870) had guaranteed the right to vote regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” , personal stories like Feinstein's appear to be playing a pivotal role for those on both sides of the emotional English-only issue. But Feinstein and others said that while they don't believe the provision will be cut, it could come in for revision. The hearing came on the heels of two Senate amendments to the pending immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. bill making English the official language of the United States. Both passed by large margins. Currently, the Voting Rights Act requires bilingual ballots and help at the polls for every significant non-English-proficient minority group, which the law defines as 10,000 voting-age citizens or 5 percent of a district's voting population. In Los Angeles County, that translates into about 1.2 million voters who receive information in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Japanese, testified Deborah Wright, acting assistant L.A. County registrar-recorder. Wright estimated that the county spends some 10 percent of its annual election expenses, or about $3 million, providing multilingual services. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, maintained that if immigrants must learn English to become a citizen, they should know enough English to vote. He and Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn said they are concerned that the English that immigrants must know in order to become a citizen is apparently not enough to enable them to read a ballot. ``We need to redefine where the problem is,'' Coburn said. ``We're fixing the wrong problem.'' Cornyn called it ``an indictment of our educational system and perhaps even our naturalization naturalization, official act by which a person is made a national of a country other than his or her native one. In some countries naturalized persons do not necessarily become citizens but may merely acquire a new nationality. laws.'' John Trasvina, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in Los Angeles, said the provision remains necessary to protect against discrimination in elections. Feinstein said she isn't sure how her mother would have felt about bilingual ballots available today. But, she said, her personal experience has convinced her of the benefits of providing information to voters in their native language. ``Democracy, in my view, depends on an enlightened electorate,'' Feinstein said. lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com (202) 662-8731 |
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