Colext/Macondo Cantina virtual de los COLombianos en el EXTerior -------------------------------------------------- Esto es solamente pala los intelesalos en las vainolas poly tick elas: PANG=============== > New York Times January 1, 2001 article, "Bungled Ballots in Chinatown > http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/01/opinion/01MON3.html > "...The "Democratic" label was translated as "Republican" > and "Republican" was rendered as "Democratic" for state races..." > > > testimony from a NYC Chinatown/Flushing community organizer regarding the > recent elections > > > Bungled Ballots in Chinatown > http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/01/opinion/01MON3.html > January 1, 2001 > > As the nation ponders the racial inequities of its flawed electoral process, > > it should pay heed to some balloting glitches in New York City that have > gone largely unnoticed. In Florida, the voice of inner-city > African-Americans was disproportionately diluted. In New York, it was the > voice of another historically disenfranchised minority, Asian-Americans. No > > less than in Florida, it seems, the voting rights of New Yorkers with much > to gain from political representation are vulnerable to incompetence, meager > > resources and neglect. > > At six voting sites in Flushing, Queens, Chinese-language ballots were > translated incorrectly. The "Democratic" label was translated as > "Republican" and "Republican" was rendered as "Democratic" for state races. > > In Chinatown in Lower Manhattan, meanwhile, officials scrambled at the last > minute to replace paper ballots with flawed instructions for selecting State > > Supreme Court justices. The English instructions read "Vote for any THREE." > > The Chinese instructions said "Vote for any FIVE" in one place and "Vote > for any THREE" in another. The mistakes were corrected, but not before > uncorrected absentee ballots were sent out. > > Since 1992, the federal Voting Rights Act has required bilingual ballots and > > translators in districts with large numbers of non-English-speaking voters. > > But New York's Board of Elections does not employ an in-house Chinese > language proofreader to verify the instructions or the candidates' names. > Clearly, better safeguards are needed. > > The problems of the last election perpetuate a history of poor planning and > inadequate staffing in predominantly Asian-American precincts. During > school board elections in Chinatown in 1996, for instance, some precincts > ran out of bilingual ballots at 8 a.m. Such lapses are especially troubling > because Asian-Americans are the fastest-growing minority in New York and > also among the least enfranchised. They make up nearly 10 percent of the > city's population, and half the residents of Flushing, but no Asian-American > > has been elected to city or state office. While the citywide registration > rate for eligible voters is roughly 70 percent, among Asian-Americans it is > less than 30 percent. > > Asian-Americans in New York voted in large numbers last year, but they > remain alienated from the political and economic mainstream. A more vigilant > > process for ensuring that their votes are fairly counted is long overdue. > > The New York Times on the Web > http://www.nytimes.com > > > >>>2<<< > Chinese American Voters Association of Queens, New York, Inc. > 136-18 41st Avenue, Flushing, NY 11355 Tel:(718)461-0830 > FAX:(718)461-4653 > E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > December 15, 2000 > Dear madam/gentleman: > > As a volunteer, served 17 years on the board and two time entering my 4th > term President to the Chinese American Voters Association of Queens, New > York, I truly appreciate the Board of Election's lending us the voting > machine for new voters practice to vote. CAVAQ has registered over 1,200 > new voters in past 10 months. It is my responsibility to bring up some > major problems our new members faced during the election to your attention: > > 1) Language Service > There isn't any Chinese speaking personnel working at BOE on daily basis > to solve problems such as: > - Verifying voters. When BOE failed notifying voters for election (that > happens a lot). Our office gets extremely busy before EVERY ELECTION. > - Answering questions. CAVAQ wasn't given any public funding, we recruit > six volunteers serving at our office from Monday to Saturday. Three of them > > are senior citizens, including an 80 years old retiree. English isn't their > > first language. Many voters registered several times were still turned away > > at polling place, rejected to vote and not able to solve the problem because > > lack of resource which should be provided by our city government. BOE > should hire population matching Chinese-speaking staff. > > 2) Chinese Language > BOE is still identifying Cantonese dialect as Chinese. If any > Chinese-speaking voter press #3 as instructed dialing (212)Vote-NYC, they'll > > find themselves more lost when Cantonese popped out. Mandarin, the official > > language has been used in Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and some other > Asian countries. But there is only Cantonese dialect served in BOE voice > mail answering system. Chinese immigrants now a day comes from not just > Canton but from Taiwan, Fujian, Beijing, Shanghai, Malaysia and Singapore, > etc. > > 3) Citizenship Verification > Numerous voters were notified two weeks before Election Day to verify > their citizenship. We like to know if this is a policy for ALL ethnic? If > not, what was the motive for Asian looking names picked by BOE for > verification? If yes, please provide a list of names been notified for > same verification. We are all innocent before proven guilty. > > We look forward seeing a much better, an encouraging environment for us to > vote in next election. Thank you very much for your courtesy and kind > attention. Very truly yours, Ellen Young, President, (718)461-4653, > CAVAQ 461-0830 > ----- > Date: 1/6/01 4:34:50 PM Eastern Standard Time > From: WinnieVHTang > BCC: Youngellen8 > > Dear Friends: > > Voting irregularity not only happened in Florida... > It also happened in NY, > especially in the Chinese American community. > > Voting rights need to be educated, > to promote, to reinforce, to act, and to protect. > Let's not sit back and let it happen to us time after time. > > Should you have any comment or suggestions, > please let me know. > We are working on to unite our Asian voices > in the political/governmental process > for equal opportunity, equal treatment in South Florida. > > Thanks for your support! > > Venghan (Winnie) Tang > President > Organization of Chinese Americans - South Florida Chapter (OCA-SFL) > "Embracing the Hopes & Aspirations of Chinese & > Asian Pacific Americans in the United States" > P O Box 56-2124, Miami, FL 33256 > 305.297.5461 / 305.271.0998 Fax > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] / [EMAIL PROTECTED] > National Website: www.ocanatl.org > _________________________________________________________________ > Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com > -------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with UNSUBSCRIBE COLEXT as the BODY of the message. 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