I’m a little confused. Back on primary day, I read an article about how the U.S. Department of Justice was going to monitoring voting in Boston and Springfield. Why? So as to ensure that non-English speaking people can vote.
Why does this confuse me? Well, I was under the impression that you had to be a citizen to vote. Wait – you DO have to be a citizen to vote. I was also under the impression that before taking the oath to obtain your U.S. Citizenship, you had to meet certain criteria, including proficiency in English. Hmm, I was right on that, too.
Ok, so in order to vote, you need to be a citizen, and in order to be a citizen, you need to speak English. Why doesn’t it follow that in order to vote you need to speak English? That makes logical sense, right? What am I missing?
I did a little digging online and found the complaint that the U.S. Department of Justice filed against the City of Springfield. It turns out that they based their lawsuit on U.S. census data. The Department of Justice alleged that "The Director [of the Census] has determined that more than five percent of Springfield’s voting age citizens are members of a single language minority group (Spanish heritage or Hispanic) who do not speak or understand English well enough to participate in the English language election process and have an illiteracy rate that is higher than the national illiteracy rate. The determination by the Census Bureau...is final and non-reviewable."
Well, maybe a court isn’t supposed to review that determination, but let me try to. Does "more than five percent of...voting age citizens" mean big-C citizens, as in U.S. Citizens, or simply "citizens," as in people who happen to be living there and responded to the census questionnaire? If it’s the latter, then the D.O.J. acted based on raw population, and not U.S. Citizens. According to the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Elections Division website, non-U.S. Citizens can’t vote anyway.
Let’s move on to "an illiteracy rate...higher than the national illiteracy rate." Ok, if you can’t read, whatever language you speak, I can see you needing help. But that’s not what is being done here. It’s help in other languages that’s being monitored. So I’m back to square one.
The conclusion? Well, I guess it has to be that the Director of the Census has determined, finally and non-reviewably, that logic doesn’t apply. Again, what am I missing?
Why does this confuse me? Well, I was under the impression that you had to be a citizen to vote. Wait – you DO have to be a citizen to vote. I was also under the impression that before taking the oath to obtain your U.S. Citizenship, you had to meet certain criteria, including proficiency in English. Hmm, I was right on that, too.
Ok, so in order to vote, you need to be a citizen, and in order to be a citizen, you need to speak English. Why doesn’t it follow that in order to vote you need to speak English? That makes logical sense, right? What am I missing?
I did a little digging online and found the complaint that the U.S. Department of Justice filed against the City of Springfield. It turns out that they based their lawsuit on U.S. census data. The Department of Justice alleged that "The Director [of the Census] has determined that more than five percent of Springfield’s voting age citizens are members of a single language minority group (Spanish heritage or Hispanic) who do not speak or understand English well enough to participate in the English language election process and have an illiteracy rate that is higher than the national illiteracy rate. The determination by the Census Bureau...is final and non-reviewable."
Well, maybe a court isn’t supposed to review that determination, but let me try to. Does "more than five percent of...voting age citizens" mean big-C citizens, as in U.S. Citizens, or simply "citizens," as in people who happen to be living there and responded to the census questionnaire? If it’s the latter, then the D.O.J. acted based on raw population, and not U.S. Citizens. According to the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Elections Division website, non-U.S. Citizens can’t vote anyway.
Let’s move on to "an illiteracy rate...higher than the national illiteracy rate." Ok, if you can’t read, whatever language you speak, I can see you needing help. But that’s not what is being done here. It’s help in other languages that’s being monitored. So I’m back to square one.
The conclusion? Well, I guess it has to be that the Director of the Census has determined, finally and non-reviewably, that logic doesn’t apply. Again, what am I missing?
posted by Olivier Kozlowski | 12:29 PM
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