Board of Commissioners of Cook County - File #: 19-5620

• File #: 19-5620
• Version: 2
• Name: VOTING OPPORTUNITY AND TRANSLATION EQUITY ORDINANCE
• Type: Ordinance
• Status: Approved
• File created: 9/16/2019
• In control: Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee
• On agenda: 9/26/2019
• Final action: 10/24/2019
• Title: PROPOSED ORDINANCE SUBSTITUTE TO FILE 19-5620 LEGISLATION AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2019 Sponsored by: SCOTT R. BRITTON, KEVIN B. MORRISON, ALMA E. ANAYA, LUIS ARROYO JR, JOHN P. DALEY, DENNIS DEER, BRIDGET DEGNEN, BRIDGET GAINER, BRANDON JOHNSON, BILL LOWRY, DONNA MILLER, STANLEY MOORE, SEAN M. MORRISON, PETER N. SILVESTRI, DEBORAH SIMS and LARRY SUFFREDIN, County Commissioners PROPOSED ORDINANCE VOTING OPPORTUNITY AND TRANSLATION EQUITY ORDINANCE WHEREAS, Cook County is committed to the values of equity, engagement, and excellence; and WHEREAS, 35% of resident of Cook County speak a language other than English at home; and WHEREAS, research suggests that civic engagement is a significant predictor of economic opportunity across states; and WHEREAS, the United States Congress found in Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 52 U.S.C. ? 10503, that, "through the use of various practices and procedures, citizens of language m...
• Sponsors: SCOTT R. BRITTON, KEVIN B. MORRISON, ALMA E. ANAYA, LUIS ARROYO JR, JOHN P. DALEY, DENNIS DEER, BRIDGET DEGNEN, BRIDGET GAINER, BRANDON JOHNSON, BILL LOWRY, DONNA MILLER, STANLEY MOORE, SEAN M. MORRISON, PETER N. SILVESTRI, DEBORAH SIMS, LARRY SUFFREDIN

Date	Ver.	Action By	Motion	Result
10/24/2019	1	Board of Commissioners	approve as substituted	Pass
10/23/2019	1	Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee	accept as substituted	Pass
10/23/2019	2	Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Committee	recommend for approval as substituted	Pass
9/26/2019	1	Board of Commissioners	refer	Pass

title
PROPOSED ORDINANCE

SUBSTITUTE TO FILE 19-5620
LEGISLATION AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE
MEETING OF OCTOBER 23, 2019

Sponsored by:
SCOTT R. BRITTON, KEVIN B. MORRISON, ALMA E. ANAYA,
LUIS ARROYO JR, JOHN P. DALEY, DENNIS DEER, BRIDGET DEGNEN,
BRIDGET GAINER, BRANDON JOHNSON, BILL LOWRY, DONNA MILLER,
STANLEY MOORE, SEAN M. MORRISON, PETER N. SILVESTRI, DEBORAH SIMS and LARRY SUFFREDIN, County Commissioners

PROPOSED ORDINANCE
VOTING OPPORTUNITY AND TRANSLATION EQUITY ORDINANCE

WHEREAS, Cook County is committed to the values of equity, engagement, and excellence; and

WHEREAS, 35% of resident of Cook County speak a language other than English at home; and

WHEREAS, research suggests that civic engagement is a significant predictor of economic opportunity across states; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress found in Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 52 U.S.C. ? 10503, that, "through the use of various practices and procedures, citizens of language minorities have been effectively excluded from participation in the electoral process;" and

WHEREAS, Cook County complies with the Voting Rights Act, which dictates which languages are translated for ballots and voting materials; and

WHEREAS, Cook County currently provides translated ballots and materials in Spanish, Chinese, and Hindi per the requirements of Section 203; and

WHEREAS, the Voting Rights Act has not been updated since 1992, and only requires that covered states or political subdivisions translate English-language voting materials for Asian, Native American and Alaskan Native, or Spanish language speakers who meet a threshold of 10,000 or more limited English speakers. Additionally, state or political subdivisions are only required to evaluate these numbers every five years following the decennial census; and

WHEREAS, research shows that targeted minority language voting materials and related outreach can improve voter turnout. According to a report by th...