Voting Rights ActSection 203 Compliance

Orange County, CA

Neal Kelley, Orange County Registrar of Voters

55.2 Standards for Measuring Compliance

•Material should be provided to allow voters to be effectively informed and participate

•All election related materials are provided in four languages (oral and written assistance)

Encouraging participation through detailed community based programs and services assists us with compliance

55.9 Coverage of Political Units in County

•Where required all political units within subdivision have the same requirements

•We conduct all elections and created a “City Clerk Partnership” to ensure joint compliance

In 2006 cities were unaware of potential implications of need to comply and City Clerk Partnership was born

55.15 Affected Activities

•Requirements apply to any registration forms; instructions; assistance; or other material “relating to the electoral process”

•All election materials are translated (into text and audio); sample ballots; forms; etc.

Electronic ballots contain translated audio as well as translated written ballots in every polling place

55.16 Standards and Proof of Compliance

•Compliance is best measured by results and relationships with community based groups

•Community Election Working Group; 30 events per year; strong relationships with advocates

We are the only California county to maintain a 25 member advisory group and work extensively with language based media

55.16 Standards and Proof of Compliance

•On-going data analysis and documentation is critical

•Bi-annual report produced; maps and data analyzed in detail and record keeping critical to show “substantial compliance”

Voting Rights Act Compliance Report began in 2010 and provides extensive details on our compliance and includes targeted data

55.18 Provision of Minority Language Materials and Assistance

•Materials provided by mail; public notices; registration activity; polling place activity; publicity

•All mailed material translated; voter instructions; notices; registrations

30% of Orange County’s poll workers are bilingual and can provide oral assistance

55.19 Written Materials

•Obligation of jurisdiction to decide what should be translated; accuracy and completeness critical

•System in place to translate all materials through certified translators; “6-layer” proofing key to success

Meaning of words can (and does) vary by County; Spanish word for Sheriff has a different meaning in Los Angeles County than Orange County

55.20 Oral Assistance and Publicity

•General announcements and publicity should be given in oral form to the extent needed by the community

•Full-time bilingual support; bilingual support in polling places; limited use of Google translation

Individual pages translated on website through “toggle feature” and use of Content Management System

55.20 Oral Assistance and Publicity

•We support Spanish; Vietnamese; Korean and Chinese (all written form)

•2006 increased calculations by 20% to provide added support and padding

We are only California county to provide additional 20% coverage which has increased our need for bilingual poll workers substantially

55.20 Oral Assistance and Publicity

•How do we calculate needed assistance in polling places?

•Spanish and Vietnamese use language requests; Chinese and Korean place of birth

Language requests are used when birthplace or surname issues arise and provides a more accurate representation of language needs

55.20 Oral Assistance and Publicity

•1 poll worker for 25-99 voters; 2 poll workers for 100-299 voters and 3 poll workers for 300+ voters

•Without padding cancellations could possibly effect coverage

Each of our bilingual poll workers has access to our bilingual poll worker handbook (translated) and each wears a welcome badge

Number of Bilingual Polling Places

Voter Registration by Place of Birth

Number of Bilingual Poll Workers Recruited

Thank you

Neal KelleyOrange County Registrar of Voters