THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS TO CONTINUE PROVIDING BILINGUAL SERVICES

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has announced their plans to continue to make bilingual ballots and all other voting materials available in Spanish and English.  The 2010 Federal agreement (Consent Decree) between the Board of Elections and the US Department of Justice will expire on March 30, 2014.  The agreement included providing bilingual ballots and other voting materials to Spanish speaking voters who were educated in Puerto Rico.

By unanimous approval, the Board of Elections has passed a resolution listing the specific actions that will be taken following the expiration of the agreement.  Pat McDonald, Director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections says “I am happy to say that virtually all of the services we provide to accommodate Spanish speaking voters will remain in place; this includes bilingual ballots, voting instructions, and bilingual poll workers in communities where there are high numbers of Spanish speaking voters.”

The resolution calls for continuing the work of the Spanish Language Advisory Board which may adopt a new name and will be free to conduct whatever activities they feel are appropriate to help educate Hispanic voters.

McDonald says, “The Spanish Language Advisory Board has done a commendable job of assisting the Board of Elections in our compliance with the Federal agreement.  They have been vital in our efforts to reach Spanish speaking voters.  The Board of Elections and staff are proud of their participation and contributions to our success. 

We will continue to work closely with the Spanish Language Advisory Board and look forward to expanding our efforts to educate Hispanic voters and encourage them to take part in elections as voters and poll workers.”

The Board of Elections will also continue to provide a Spanish version of our website, Facebook page, and retain the services of our Bilingual Coordinator.  Any new documents created by the Board of Elections will be bilingual.