Judge orders Florida officials to provide samples of ballots in Spanish: NPR

A Florida federal judge ordered Secretary of State Kenneth Detzner to mandate local election officials to comply with the 1965 Voting Rights Act by providing ballots in Spanish. The plaintiffs asked for these documents because many people left Puerto Rico Florida after Hurricane Maria and hope to vote in the November general election.

In a harsh judgment on Friday, US District Judge Mark Walker wrote: "As noted with tedious regularity, the accused Detzner is the" Chief Electoral Officer "of Florida and therefore has to watch out for it. electoral law, after the provision stipulating "except for the 1965 Voting Rights Act."

Detzner had argued that he had no relevant power over county election supervisors.

Walker issued an accelerated injunction requiring 32 counties across the state to provide eligible voters with samples of Spanish ballots identical to official ballots in English and which can be used to mark official ballots. He also demanded that they take steps to make Spanish-speaking voters aware of the availability of these ballots and their use. Finally, he ordered local election officials to post posters and posters on their websites.

The judge did not mince words and repeatedly hammered Detzner.

"Puerto Ricans are American citizens," Walker told Detzner. "Unique among Americans, they are not educated primarily in English – and do not need to do it – but, like all American citizens, they have the fundamental right to vote." "to be helped to vote," he said.

"Voting in a language you do not understand, it's like asking this Court [to] Deciding on the Nobel Prize winner for chemistry – ineffective, in other words, wrote Walker. Courts have long considered that the right to vote includes not only the right to physically enter a polling station and fill out a ballot, understand and understand what is on this ballot. "

"It is remarkable that a coalition of advocacy organizations and individuals is needed to take legal action in federal court to obtain a minimum respect for the plain language of a venerable 53-year-old law," he said. he added.

But he did not order the counties to create official Spanish ballot papers, absence and advance voting requests and ballots, voter registration forms or registration forms. 39, hire certified translators, among others. Walker wrote that this would "place significant hardship on election administrators" with so little time before the general election.

"Today's decision confirms what we said in this case: Puerto Rican citizens must have full and equal access to the franchise. People who are still experiencing devastating losses as a result of Hurricane Maria should not either "Stuart Naifeh, senior counsel of Demos, one of many groups that filed the application for preliminary injunction.

The coalition of activist organizations filed a lawsuit against the state in August, arguing that Detzner "does not protect the rights of Spanish-speaking Puerto Ricans to vote in the United States."

Although the preliminary injunction is not a final decision, it indicates that Walker is likely to side with the plaintiffs.

According to testimony in court documents, more than 36,500 Puerto Ricans live in one of the 32 counties in question. However, Walker noted that this estimate does not include the wave of islanders who moved to the mainland after the devastating hurricane of 2017.

Following this decision, the Detzner office told NPR: "The department will advise the locally elected election supervisors.

Governor Rick Scott's office has suggested that all counties that should be in compliance already be.

"The federal law determines which counties are required to provide ballots in Spanish, and the Florida State Department provides voting materials in both English and Spanish," John Tupps, director of communications, told NPR. of the governor.

"Florida is the biggest melting pot in the world and we do not want registered voters to be able to exercise their right because of a language barrier, and we're happy that more countries are doing what we're doing right now. State, "added Tupps.

Walker's decision was the last decision against Detzner in a series of lawsuits over election-related matters, and in Friday's decision he seemed to express some frustration with the already-seen nature of the case by starting with the film. marmot day.

"Here we are again, the alarm clock arrives at 6am." I'm sure Sonny and Cher are starting to play. Residents and visitors to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, are eagerly awaiting the prediction of the groundhog. in his election management, "he wrote, including a footnote that reads:" Phil Connors, played by Bill Murray, experienced a similar phenomenon. "