 Oct. 25, 2005 Gary Locke helps King County recruit bilingual poll workers
"The right to vote is one of the most important ways we have to keep our communities strong." said Locke. "By removing the language barrier, we can help more citizens be heard this election." The public service announcement is one part of a comprehensive outreach effort by King County Elections to staff 103 polling places with Chinese speaking poll workers. The effort also includes targeted outreach through community groups, at high schools, universities and colleges. In the 2000 Census, 10,535 Chinese American, voting age citizens indicated that they have limited English proficiency making Chinese the language other than English spoken by most people in King County. "Last month more Chinese American voters were greeted in their native language than ever before," said Dean Logan, director of King County Records, Elections and Licensing Services. "We hired 20 more poll workers for the Primary than in last year's Presidential Election, and with help from community leaders like Governor Locke and civic organizations, we are hoping to do even better next month." Thanks to increased outreach efforts, King County had a record number of requests for elections materials in Chinese during the 2005 Primary and enlisted more bilingual poll workers than ever. The number of registered voters requesting election materials in Chinese for this year's General Election has increased more than 26 percent over last year's General Election. The pool of bilingual poll workers has increased 60 percent from 60 in the 2004 General Election to 96 so far this year. King County has also increased to 87 percent the amount of information on the web available in Chinese. About 78 percent was available in the 2004 Primary. "King County's efforts to open the election process have been tremendous," said Lily Jung West, the community liaison who oversees King County's compliance with Federal Law to provide election materials in Chinese. "More information than ever before is available in Chinese and the process of voting is made more accessible by placing poll workers who speak Chinese at the polls. The result is that we are seeing more Chinese Americans engage in the system and exercise their right to vote. King County has participated fully in our efforts to ensure that Chinese Americans have an equal opportunity to get their votes counted." King County is required by Federal Law to provide election materials in Chinese because of the number of Chinese speaking citizens identified in the 2000 U.S. Census (Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C., 1973aa-1a). In the 2000 Census, 10,535 Chinese American, voting age citizens indicated that they have limited English proficiency and that their English literacy rate is below that of the national standard (5th Grade). No other limited-English proficiency group was identified as meeting the federal threshold for minority language voter assistance in King County during the 2000 Census. To be a bilingual poll worker call the Chinese Voter Hotline at 206-296-1544 or 206- 296-VOTE, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Watch the public service announcement (requires the free Real Player to view). |
Updated: Oct. 21, 2005
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Former Washington Governor Gary Locke is joining an effort by King County to recruit bilingual poll workers. Governor Locke, who became the first Chinese American elected Governor in the United States in 1996, appears in a public service announcement recruiting bilingual, Chinese speaking poll workers airing on KCTV and AAT TV's Chinese programming.