Spanish signs at polling places in Indiana?

Published December 18, 2011 | By dditton

Here’s a rundown of a recent email conversation with the Indiana Secretary of State office regarding Spanish signs posted at Indiana polling places:

Question submitted to the Indiana Secretary of State website by Terry Smith:

Why were voting instructions at the November 2011 election posted in Spanish?

Response from Constituent Services, Office of the Indiana Secretary of State:

Mr. Smith,

Thank you for contacting the Office of the Indiana Secretary of State.

The United States holds the 5th largest Spanish speaking community in the world. Since every American has the right to cast their vote, the Elections Division tries to accommodate every voter. It is the same reason we have handicap accessible areas at polling places. Every attempt is made to create a friendly accessible environment for voters to cast their ballots.

If you have further questions regarding this matter you may contact our Elections Division directly by calling (317) 232-3939.

Sincerely,

Constituent Services
Office of the Indiana Secretary of State
200 W. Washington Street, Rm. 201
Indianapolis, IN 46204
constituent@sos.in.gov
www.IN.gov/sos
317.232.6576

Response from Terry Smith:

Dear Sir or Madam:

Are you saying that there is no legal requirement to post voting instructions in Spanish, but that your office made the decision to impose on Whitley County election officials the requirement that they post these Spanish lanquage signs?

What happened to the concept that English is the official lanquage of the State of Indiana? Again, by what legal authority did you prepare Spanish langquage posters and require that they be posted at the polling stations on election day?

Further, contrary to the assertions in your correspondence, not “every American” has the right to vote. and certainly not every Indiana resident of Spanish origin has the right to vote. I would suspect that most eligible voters of Spanish decent can read the voting instructions in English and the Spanish language posters are superfluous.

So is this an ACORN driven effort to allow illegal aliens the opportunity to vote?

Terry L. Smith
116 North Main Street
Columbia City, IN 46725