Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Federal Court Upholds Voting Rights Of Alaska Natives Who Need Language Assistance
NARF And ACLU Victory Protects Yup’ik-Speaking Voters
ANCHORAGE " Late yesterday,
a federal court ordered Alaska’s state and local elections officials to provide effective language assistance to citizens who speak Yup'ik, the primary language of a majority of voters in the Bethel region of Alaska. The victory came in a legal challenge brought by Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of four Alaska Natives and four tribal governments.
“This is a huge victory, not only for Yup’ik voters, but for all Alaska Natives who want to participate in the democratic process,” said NARF attorney Natalie Landreth, who is lead co-counsel in the case. “The state of Alaska has recently taken the first step towards complying with its obligations under the law. But as the court recognized, the state’s recent efforts to provide Yup’ik language assistance are ‘relatively new and untested’
over 30 years after Alaska was first required to provide that assistance. Yup’ik voters will remain vigilant to work with the court to make sure the state’s first steps are not its last. Voting is too precious a right to be denied by bureaucratic neglect.”
The landmark ruling protects Yup’ik-speaking voters in the Bethel region of Alaska by requiring that the state provide language assistance, including trained poll workers who are bilingual in English and Yup’ik; sample ballots in written Yup’ik; a written Yup’ik glossary of election terms; consultation with local tribes to ensure the accuracy of Yup’ik translations; a Yup’ik language coordinator; and pre-election and post-election reports to the court tracking the state’s efforts.
Alaska is required to comply with the order under the penalty of contempt.
More
http://narfnews.blogspot.com/2008/08/federal-court-upholds-voting-rights-of.html
More information about the ACLU’s work on voting rights is available at:
http://www.votingrights.org/
Wow - it's only taken 30 years for those people
Guess they pretty much must feel like 3rd class citizens, eh?
Perhaps now they have the vote they can move on a little - who knows, maybe one day they can be like the Lakota - and take back what is rightfully theirs
http://www.naturalnews.com/022631.html
The Lakota have the right idea - no matter what befalls them because of their decision - they have not forgotten their ancestry.
I wouldn't blame them one little bit for wanting to govern themselves. The Lakota have the respect of many people outside of America - and reason to be proud.
Anyone, black , white or brown, who votes for more of what this Republican Government has inflicted on the world and on the reputation of America - should be ashamed of themselves IMO
Supporting war crimes? Torture. The stealing of other people's lands and resources? How could any native American feel comfortable doing that?
