Election officials testify they work hard to help Native language speakers (fwd link)

[Phil Cash Cash]

*Election officials testify they work hard to help Native language speakers*

Richard Mauer

July 1, 2014
​US​


​Two state election officials spent most of Tuesday testifying about the
efforts they make to assist Native language speakers at village polling
places.

Defending themselves against a voting rights lawsuit, the officials said
they’ve translated difficult ballot measures, put notices on local radio
stations and VHF village radio, and recruited bilingual workers and trained
them to assist mainly elderly voters who struggle with English.

“We do our very best in recruiting bilingual outreach workers,” said Becka
Baker, elections supervisor for the Nome region. “We sometimes call
everybody in a village trying to recruit election workers.”

Baker is one of four named defendants in the federal lawsuit brought by the
nonprofit Native American Rights Fund on behalf of two village elders in
Southwest Alaska and four federally recognized village tribes.

​Access full article below:
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20140701/election-officials-testify-they-work-hard-help-native-language-speakers
​
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