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Press Release
National Asian
Pacific American Legal Consortium
Press Release
For Immediate Release
July 29, 2002
Contact:
Vincent A. Eng
202-296-2300
VOTING LANGUAGE
ASSISTANCE JURISDICTIONS ANNOUNCED
Washington, D.C. —The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC)
and its Affiliates— the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF),
the Asian Law Caucus (ALC) and the
Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC)—were
encouraged by the Census Bureau’s release of the jurisdictions that will be
required to provide voting language assistance. Jurisdictions and languages
coverage are determined by the information submitted to the Census 2000.
Language assistance and coverage under the Census 1990 was primarily in
California, Hawaii, and New York. Under Census 2000, language assistance
and coverage has expanded to additional States, jurisdictions, and languages.
The notice, which appeared in the Federal Register on July 26 identified the
following jurisdictions and languages for the APA community:
Alaska
Kodiak Island Borough: Filipino*
California
Alameda: Chinese
Los Angeles: Chinese, Japanese, Korean*, Filipino,
Vietnamese
Orange: Chinese*, Korean*, Vietnamese
San Diego: Filipino*
San Francisco: Chinese
San Mateo: Chinese*
Santa Clara: Chinese*, Filipino*, Vietnamese*
Hawaii
Honolulu: Chinese*, Filipino, Japanese
Maui: Filipino
Illinois
Cook: Chinese*
New York
Kings (Brooklyn): Chinese
New York (Manhattan): Chinese
Queens: Chinese, Korean*
Texas
Harris: Vietnamese*
Washington
King: Chinese*
* New jurisdiction or language under Census 2000
The above jurisdictions are required under Section 203 of the Voting Right Act
to provide both written and oral language assistance to voters when requested at
the polls. Kauai County in Hawaii was the only jurisdiction that did not carry
over from the 1990 Census.
Karen K. Narasaki, President and Executive Director of NAPALC said, “The greater
significance of the release of jurisdictions and languages is the increased
ability of the Asian Pacific American community to become active participants in
the voting process and to elect representatives that place importance upon the
issues and concerns of the APA community.”
Stewart Kwoh, Executive Director of the APALC noted, “To build upon the
coverage, we need to continue to also focus upon community education to ensure
that all APAs can and will engage in the electoral processes.”
“It is imperative that the Department of Justice work with community based
organizations to ensure that Section 203 of the Voting Right Act is fully
implemented and that language assistance is provided to all that request it.”
said Margaret Fung, Executive Director of AALDEF.
Peggy Saika, Board Chair of ALC affirmed, “The release of the new jurisdictions
and language coverage is undoubtedly a critical step forward in the capacity of
the APA community to achieve political empowerment. We hope that the new
jurisdictions and languages can be fully implemented for the upcoming
elections.”
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The National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium (www.napalc.org)
is a national civil rights organization dedicated to advancing and defending the
civil rights of Asian Pacific Americans. The Asian Law Caucus (www.asianlawcaucus.org)
of San Francisco is the oldest Asian Pacific American legal group in the nation.
The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (www.aaldef.org)
is the first organization on the East Coast dedicated to promoting the legal
rights of Asian Americans. The Asian
Pacific American Legal Center (www.apalc.org)
is the only organization in Southern California dedicated to providing the Asian
Pacific American community with multilingual, culturally sensitive legal
services and civic
education.
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