Skewed UC Berkeley Poll Claims 70% of Californians Approve Ballots in Multiple Languages

According to a new but skewed UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) poll released Monday, 70% of Californian voters approve of giving limited English voters in California ballots and voting materials printed in their preferred language.

In addition, there was a second question asking if all limited-English speaking communities that meet a minimum size threshold in a county should receive translated versions of all voting materials. And there, 68% agreed.

“The survey was conducted in five languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese) and included an oversample of registered voters who requested a ballot in a language other than English,” said UC Berkeley IGS in their poll announcement. “This allowed for a fine-grained analysis of the views of both California voters overall and of these language communities. (Note that the survey was weighted so that the results are representative of the population of California registered voters).

“The poll finds a 70% majority of registered voters agree that “eligible voters who are limited-English speaking should have translated voting materials available to them in their preferred language. The sentiment was especially strong among voters whose dominant language was other than English. Chinese and Korean-dominant voters were especially likely to agree with the sentiment at 86 and 90 percent respectively.”

When both questions were broken down by party, race, and language, only Republican respondents didn’t give a 50% or more agreeance rate. In total, there was 45% Republican support in the first question, with only 40% in the second.

“When voters can read their ballot, they can cast it with confidence. Language access isn’t a luxury—it’s a basic condition of a fair election,” explained Pedro Hernandez, the Legal and Policy Director for California Common Cause. “Californians of all kinds get that. Even native-born Californians support the right of their immigrant neighbors to an equal ballot.”

“Our state has large communities that speak Arabic, Somali, Amharic, and other languages that currently receive no assistance in voting whatsoever,” added Associate Director of Inclusive Democracy at the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans Viveka Ray-Mazumde. “California should be leading the fight for immigrant inclusion, not leaving voters behind.”

However, the poll was significantly skewed, with the poll question leaving no room for context or clarity. According to the California Secretary of State’s office, Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act requires that in counties where more than 10,000 or 5% of all total voting-age citizens who are members of a single language minority group, have depressed literacy rates, and do not speak English very well, election materials that are available in English must also be made available in the language of the particular minority group.

And that’s just federal. The State breaks it down even further, with some counties having as many as 20 language options for election materials and ballots. 10 Counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Orange, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Santa Clara) have 8 or more options. And when broken down further, translation assistance is available too. And even then, with ballots nowadays being all by-mail, self-translation is likewise a growing option.

There’s also the fact that the state has tried to expand language assistance and election services to immigrants who don’t speak English fluently in the past to no avail, as it was either unpopular or too expensive an option. Most recently this was attempted with AB 884. While the bill passed both houses, there was significant opposition. And then it wound up being vetoed as, according to Governor Gavin Newsom, it would have cost the state at least tens of millions of dollars.

Adding to all that is that many Californians just don’t feel that this issue is all that important right now, with many more pressing matters currently pulling the state.

All together, while the poll did show that Californians do want to have ballots in the own language, it neglected to go into what is already available for voters and, similarly, neglected to ask respondents about self-translation of ballots, which has gotten significantly easier in recent years for voters whose first language isn’t English. This can range from self-typing on Google translate and asking for a translator in-person to new apps that translate photos taken on a smart phone. For the latter, there are many videos on YouTube and TikTok of first time voters in the U.S. using that to help them vote for the first time as a citizen.

Many of these services can be done by themselves, or if needed, through assistance from a local library. They all also help with gaining English language and literacy skills. For voters with limited English they have many options that don’t require the state  to pay out tens of millions of dollars.

The poll didn’t really give any of that for context or background.