Monday 29th April 2024

A group that advocates for the civil rights of Hispanics is asking Iowa’s Secretary of State to offer documents related to voting that are translated into other languages.

Under FEDERAL guidelines, Tama County offers voting materials in the Meskwaki language and Buena Vista County has translated documents in Spanish. Joe Henry is a member of the Iowa board of directors for the League of United Latin American Citizens or LULAC. It has filed a formal request, asking the secretary of state to allow voting materials to be made available statewide in Spanish, Burmese and other languages.

The Iowa secretary of state’s office previously allowed translated voting materials throughout the state but changed the practice in 2008. A district court judge ruled that voter registration forms offered in other languages conflicted with the state’s so-called “English Only” law requiring government business be conducted in English.