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Calling for the Committee on Law and Government to hold hearings to examine the feasibility of offering election materials in additional languages, exploring ballot randomization, and enabling safer and more secure elections to adequately prepare for and participate in local, state, and federal elections.
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WHEREAS, Nearly one hundred and fifty thousand Philadelphians are Limited English proficiency (LEP). Between 47,206 and 87,732 LEP citizens of voting age in Philadelphia will benefit from expanded language accommodation, especially for Philadelphia's largest LEP immigrant populations who speak Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, Haitian, French, and Russian, and;
WHEREAS, the landmark civil rights legislation Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act recognizes that citizens of language minorities are part of marginalized communities who have been effectively excluded from participation in the electoral process, and thus ensures LEP voters have equal language access to exercise the fundamental right to vote in our democracy; and,
WHEREAS, Data shows that immigrant citizens, especially Asian Americans, historically participate in elections at lower rates than average. Given census data from 2020, Mandarin will most likely become a required supported language in Philadelphia this upcoming election, under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, similar to Spanish and English; and,
WHEREAS, Within neighborhoods across Philadelphia there are linguistic communities that have significant populations of voters who are limited-English proficiency and speak languages like Mandarin, Russian, and Haitian; and,
WHEREAS, Only 66% of Philadelphia's 1 million+ voters participated in the 2020 general election, as tens of thousands of eligible voters were discouraged from participating in the process because of language-related barriers; and,
WHEREAS, Local immigrant-led organizations found significant boosts in participation of constituent voters with pilot provisions of ba...
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