There is encouraging news about the state of San Benito County
elections. The Department of Justice
– which was alarmed enough about the county’s lack of resources
for Spanish-speaking voters to threaten a lawsuit – reports that
significant improvements were made in the November election.
There is encouraging news about the state of San Benito County elections. The Department of Justice – which was alarmed enough about the county’s lack of resources for Spanish-speaking voters to threaten a lawsuit – reports that significant improvements were made in the November election.
Still, there is room to get better and San Benito County must continue to commit the resources and the time to ensure that voting – the cornerstone of our democracy – is accessible to all.
Bert Russ of the DOJ’s voting section said Registrar John Hodges did a good job meeting the requirements laid out by the Justice Department. Hodges provided 54 bilingual poll workers and printed ballots in Spanish and English in November. As a result, the DOJ won’t take the county to court, County Counsel Karen Forcum said. That’s good news because the last thing this county needs is to hire more costly lawyers to defend it against another lawsuit.
But there still are problems to be worked out, and the elections office needs to show it can run a smooth election on a consistent basis.
Bert noted that poll workers need more training and that observers saw some voters who were not on the rolls at the polling places being turned away without provisional ballots. Also, some of the voting equipment didn’t work properly.
The DOJ’s decree to improve resources for Spanish speakers is in effect until 2006. Supervisors should make sure Hodges has all the resources he needs, whether it be money or manpower, to provide that training and to ensure future elections run well. And, the League of United Latin American Citizens, which was instrumental in drawing attention to the problems, should continue to provide help tracking down bilingual poll workers.
Also, this could be a good opportunity for the county to explore the cost of bringing its voting equipment into the modern era. Voters use an archaic punch ballot system that could lead to errors and neither election results nor candidate fundraising information are posted online. Let’s see how much it would cost to change that.
During the summer, some said the Department of Justice singled out San Benito County to serve as a warning for other counties to shape up their voting requirements. If we are to be held up as an example, let’s be one that the rest of California wants to follow.
