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L.A. COUNCILMEN SEEK TO ADD ARMENIAN LANGUAGE TO BALLOT
by Zach Behrens
KCET
http://www.kcet.org/news/ballotbrief/election-law/maria-garcia.html
April 26 2012
CA
Two L.A. City Councilmen want to add the Armenian language to the
city's election materials and ballots, which are already provided in
six languages besides English. With the Los Angeles area being home
to the most Armenians in the U.S. (thousands took to the streets of
Hollywood on Tuesday to observe the beginning of Armenian genocide
97 years ago), they believe there is good reason for this.
"The Armenian population in Los Angeles is significant and continues
to grow; at last count, there were over 28,000 registered voters of
Armenian descent in the City," reads a motion submitted by Council
President Herb Wesson and Council Member Paul Krekorian, the first
Armenian-American member of the city council. "As such, the City should
consider adding Armenian as a language available on election ballot
materials to ensure that the City's Armenian community is given the
same consideration that other communities in the City are given."
Language options currently on L.A.'s election materials and ballots
-- that would be Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, and
Vietnamese -- are required by the federal Voting Rights Act. Based
on census data, single language groups must be given assistance when
the population is more than 10,000 or is more than five percent of all
voting age citizens or the illiteracy rate of the group is higher than
the national illiteracy rate. (The most recent census data indicated
that Hindi and Thai will be added to the next L.A. ballot. Countywide,
those languages and Khmer, the official language of Cambodia, will
also be added to the June 5 primary ballot.)
So if there are close to 30,000 Armenians living in Los Angeles,
shouldn't they be also included? Well, there is a catch.
The federal law only applies to "American Indians, Asian Americans,
Alaskan Natives, and Spanish-heritage citizens" because Congress
determined the groups "to have faced barriers in the political
process." Armenians do not fit into those categories, hence the
city motion, which seeks to first study the feasibility of adding
the service starting with the 2013 or 2015 elections and will be
considered in a future city council committee meeting.
Neighboring city of Glendale, where around a quarter of its population
is Armenian, already includes the language on its election materials
and ballots.
From: Baghdasarian
by Zach Behrens
KCET
http://www.kcet.org/news/ballotbrief/election-law/maria-garcia.html
April 26 2012
CA
Two L.A. City Councilmen want to add the Armenian language to the
city's election materials and ballots, which are already provided in
six languages besides English. With the Los Angeles area being home
to the most Armenians in the U.S. (thousands took to the streets of
Hollywood on Tuesday to observe the beginning of Armenian genocide
97 years ago), they believe there is good reason for this.
"The Armenian population in Los Angeles is significant and continues
to grow; at last count, there were over 28,000 registered voters of
Armenian descent in the City," reads a motion submitted by Council
President Herb Wesson and Council Member Paul Krekorian, the first
Armenian-American member of the city council. "As such, the City should
consider adding Armenian as a language available on election ballot
materials to ensure that the City's Armenian community is given the
same consideration that other communities in the City are given."
Language options currently on L.A.'s election materials and ballots
-- that would be Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog, and
Vietnamese -- are required by the federal Voting Rights Act. Based
on census data, single language groups must be given assistance when
the population is more than 10,000 or is more than five percent of all
voting age citizens or the illiteracy rate of the group is higher than
the national illiteracy rate. (The most recent census data indicated
that Hindi and Thai will be added to the next L.A. ballot. Countywide,
those languages and Khmer, the official language of Cambodia, will
also be added to the June 5 primary ballot.)
So if there are close to 30,000 Armenians living in Los Angeles,
shouldn't they be also included? Well, there is a catch.
The federal law only applies to "American Indians, Asian Americans,
Alaskan Natives, and Spanish-heritage citizens" because Congress
determined the groups "to have faced barriers in the political
process." Armenians do not fit into those categories, hence the
city motion, which seeks to first study the feasibility of adding
the service starting with the 2013 or 2015 elections and will be
considered in a future city council committee meeting.
Neighboring city of Glendale, where around a quarter of its population
is Armenian, already includes the language on its election materials
and ballots.
From: Baghdasarian