Lawsuit charges Native voting rights violated (fwd)

[phil cash cash]

Lawsuit charges Native voting rights violated

by Maria Downey
Monday, June 11, 2007
http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=6643932

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- In federal court today, the American Civil Liberties
Union of Alaska, along with the Native American Rights Fund, filed a
lawsuit against state and local election officials on behalf of Bethel area
voters.

Voters in the region claim their rights were violated when ballots and
resources were not provided for Yupik speakers.

Rural Alaskans often cannot simply drive across town to a polling station
and cast their ballots. In fact, some Bush communities require a boat ride
or a river navigation to fulfill their civil duties -- a task that is
respected and taken seriously.

Some believe that the Division of Elections -- at both the state and local
level -- has violated the National Voting Rights Act of 1965 by not
providing ballots in some Native languages.

Natalie Landreth of the Native American Rights Fund said the language
barrier leaves people confused about ballots.

"It's completely beyond a doubt that they are not casting a meaningful
ballot when they can not fully understand what they are voting for,"
Landreth said.

Many elders in Bethel primarily speak and read Yupik, the largest of the
Alaska Native languages.

The lawsuit alleges that the violations have been ongoing, and that
elections officials have denied voter assistance and voting materials to
non-English speakers.

"The fundamental right of an American citizen is to participate in
representative democracy, but many Yupik communities and the four
specifically in this complaint are faced with a choice of voting
incorrectly or in a way they did not intend, or not voting at all,"
Landreth said.

Attorneys for both civil rights organizations said they were compelled to
sue after speaking with community elders in the Bethel region who claimed
to have quit voting after being unable to read or understand ballots.

Landreth said some elders told her they were afraid to vote because they
could not understand the ballots.

An example given by attorneys in the case involved the so-called
English-only measure, an approved ballot proposition that requires the
state to use English in all government functions and actions. Yupik
speaking elders said the ballot proposition was listed in English only, and
they mistakenly voted for it.

Jason Brandeis of the ACLU of Alaska Foundation said voter's rights are
being violated.

"Enabling people to have meaningful access to the electoral process --
that's what the Voting Rights Act is all about. It's to ensure every
American citizen who has the right to vote can participate fully in that
process, and that's a right that is guaranteed to every one under the 15th
Amendment to the Constitution. This is something that is not happening in
the Bethel census area," Brandeis said.

While a decision would immediately affect Bethel area voters, where the
largest group of Yupik speaking voters in Alaska is located, it would also
affect other Native communities across the state that fit the Voting Rights
Act criteria for language assistance.

"To enforce the rights the people in the Lower 48 already have and that
immigrant communities already have once they become citizens, we believe
that America's first people are also entitled to these same rights,"
Landreth said.

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, the constitutional chief for the Division of
Elections, would not comment on the lawsuit. His office said they had not
yet seen the complaint.

Contact Maria Downey at mdowney at ktuu.com