Alaska ballots fraught with issues for Yup=?UTF-8?Q?=E2=80=99ik_?=speakers (fwd link)

[Phil Cash Cash]

*Alaska ballots fraught with issues for Yup’ik speakers*

*Lawyers say poor translations of election materials disenfranchise Native
voters*

August 18, 2014 5:00AM ET

by *Julia O'Malley*

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Ahead of tomorrow’s primary elections in Alaska, every
voter in the state should have received a pamphlet that introduces the
candidates, describes ballot issues and explains how to vote.

The pamphlets are available in Spanish and Tagalog — but not Yup’ik, a
language spoken by Alaska Natives, even though it is among the most
commonly spoken languages in the state.

At least 10,000 people speak Yup’ik, according to the Alaska Native
Language Center <http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/languages/cy/> at the University
of Alaska at Fairbanks*. *It’s the second-most-spoken Native language in
the U.S. <http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-10.pdf>, after Navajo
*.* Many speakers live in the community of Bethel or surrounding smaller
rural villages in southwestern Alaska.

When Yup’ik-only speakers get to the voting booth, they may request a
Yup’ik sample ballot, which can also be read to them. Though the
translation may be technically correct, it may be in an unfamiliar dialect
or so dense and convoluted that, some Alaska Native leaders say, older
Natives in particular will feel they are voting blindly. The ballot they
mark will be written in English.

Access full article below:
http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/8/18/alaska-ballots-languagetranslation.html
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