Poll Sites To Accommodate Korean Voters
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"Many more Asian-Americans will be able to fully participate in the electoral franchise," said Glenn Magpantay, staff attorney for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
In a report issued this year, the organization said it found that Korean voters had faced discrimination and other difficulties at poll sites.
The Board of Elections has been working to prepare voting materials for the 23 affected sites before the fall elections, according to Michael Sternlieb, the agency's coordinator of language assistance programs. Sternlieb was noncommittal Friday, however, on whether Korean-language ballots could be ready for the Sept. 10 primaries.
The Justice Department had not officially notified the Board of Elections of the decision Friday, but the decision was published in the Federal Register.
The 2000 census recorded 63,885 Koreans in Queens, a 30.1 percent increase since 1990, when the Korean population was listed at 49,088.
Federal law requires voting materials to be translated into foreign languages when the voting population speaking a given foreign language reaches a 5 percent threshold.
The Board of Elections currently translates ballots into Spanish and Chinese under the federal requirements, contained in the Voting Rights Act of 1992.
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