GOP primary frontrunner for Arizona secretary of state wants to stop printing ballots in Spanish

[phands]

What a total scumbag....

[FONT=&quot]Wow: At a recent debate ahead of Arizona’s Aug. 28 Republican primary for secretary of state, businessman Steve Gaynor advocated for banning the printing of ballots and other election materials in Spanish, arguing that they should only be in English. Furthermore, Gaynor called for repealing the 1975 amendment to the federal Voting Rights Act that, thanks to a history of discrimination by many states—including Arizona itself—requires jurisdictions with large populations of non-English speakers to provide election materials in voters’ native languages.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Given that record of discrimination in a state that's one-quarter Latino or Native American, it's astonishing that a candidate would openly advocate for a measure that could make voting considerably more difficult for so many. But with Republicans escalating their voter suppression efforts thanks to a Supreme Court that seems determined to eviscerate the Voting Rights Act, Gaynor's proposal isn't an empty threat.[/FONT]

It seems there is no depth to which rethuglicans will not sink.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...ate-wants-to-stop-printing-ballots-in-Spanish

 

[Trausti]

They need to have ballots in Klingon - to be inclusive.

 

[steve_bank]

How many languages do we officialy support? I grew up around Iralians and Italian immigranrs in the 50s 60s in the NYC metro area. They all learned English and ballots were not printed in Italian.In social groups they spoke Italian and did not need govt support to maintain a cultural identy.

I spent the last 3 yerras in rehab and assisted living facilities. Language is a problem with some West African immigrants who work in these facilities. After yeras of livimg and working here many can barealy communicate in English. The same can be said of a portion of central and south American immigrants. 2nd and 3rd generation are not fluent in English.

If you think I am biased American blacks in these places have the same complaint.

We loose a lot wiothout presure fpr as common lamguage.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

How many languages do we officialy support? I grew up around Iralians and Italian immigranrs in the 50s 60s in the NYC metro area. They all learned English and ballots were not printed in Italian.In social groups they spoke Italian and did not need govt support to maintain a cultural identy.

I spent the last 3 yerras in rehab and assisted living facilities. Language is a problem with some West African immigrants who work in these facilities. After yeras of livimg and working here many can barealy communicate in English. The same can be said of a portion of central and south American immigrants. 2nd and 3rd generation are not fluent in English.

If you think I am biased American blacks in these places have the same complaint.

We loose a lot wiothout presure fpr as common lamguage.

I'm surprised at 2nd and 3rd generation people not being fluent in English.

However, learning English as an adult is hard. In my experience immigrants fall into two groups: Those who married into their own language and those who didn't. The former rarely learn more than minimal English, the latter almost certainly learn far more, although generally well below full fluency.

 

[Bomb#20]

They need to have ballots in Klingon - to be inclusive.

How many languages do we officialy support? I grew up around Iralians and Italian immigranrs in the 50s 60s in the NYC metro area. They all learned English and ballots were not printed in Italian. ... Language is a problem with some West African immigrants who work in these facilities. After yeras of livimg and working here many can barealy communicate in English. The same can be said of a portion of central and south American immigrants. ... We loose a lot wiothout presure fpr as common lamguage.

You guys don't see any difference between expecting a person who immigrates to a different language area to learn the local language, and expecting a person who already speaks a local language to learn a new language to maintain his civil rights simply because the new language immigrated and made itself dominant? Italian was never the local language of New York. Efik etc, were never the local languages around Seattle. But Spanish and Indian languages have been local languages of Arizona a lot longer than English has.

 

[Trausti]

They need to have ballots in Klingon - to be inclusive.

How many languages do we officialy support? I grew up around Iralians and Italian immigranrs in the 50s 60s in the NYC metro area. They all learned English and ballots were not printed in Italian. ... Language is a problem with some West African immigrants who work in these facilities. After yeras of livimg and working here many can barealy communicate in English. The same can be said of a portion of central and south American immigrants. ... We loose a lot wiothout presure fpr as common lamguage.

You guys don't see any difference between expecting a person who immigrates to a different language area to learn the local language, and expecting a person who already speaks a local language to learn a new language to maintain his civil rights simply because the new language immigrated and made itself dominant? Italian was never the local language of New York. Efik etc, were never the local languages around Seattle. But Spanish and Indian languages have been local languages of Arizona a lot longer than English has.

So the ballots should be printed in Navajo? And Spanish is an imperialist foreign language to the area.

 

[Bomb#20]

You guys don't see any difference between expecting a person who immigrates to a different language area to learn the local language, and expecting a person who already speaks a local language to learn a new language to maintain his civil rights simply because the new language immigrated and made itself dominant? Italian was never the local language of New York. Efik etc, were never the local languages around Seattle. But Spanish and Indian languages have been local languages of Arizona a lot longer than English has.

So the ballots should be printed in Navajo? And Spanish is an imperialist foreign language to the area.

The ballots are printed in Navajo. And Navajo is an imperialist foreign language to the area too, every bit as much as Spanish and English. The Navajo are a Canadian tribe; they arrived in the 1300s and seized Hopi land. But that's not the fault of any living Navajo, any more than the subsequent Spanish and English invasions are the fault of living Spanish and English speakers. That doesn't change the fact that the Navajos aren't immigrants, so it isn't as reasonable to say "Learn English if you want to vote" to them as it is to say it to any Italians or Klingons who want to participate. If America is one day conquered by the French, do you think it would be fair for them to tell English-speaking Americans "You're in Greater Quebec. Learn the language."