The Importance of Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act
By Margaret Fung 

Excerpts from the testimony of Margaret Fung (Executive Director, Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund), before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution, November 8, 2005. 

Under Section 203 [of the Voting Rights Act], a jurisdiction must provide minority language assistance if the Census Director certifies that:

1. More than 5% of citizens of voting age in the jurisdiction are members of a single language minority and are limited English proficient; or

2. More than 10,000 citizens of voting age in the jurisdiction are members of a single language minority and are limited English proficient; or

3. More than 5% of American Indian or Alaskan Native citizens of voting age within an Indian reservation are members of a single language minority and are limited English proficient; and

4. The illiteracy rate of the group is higher than the national illiteracy rate, as defined by educational attainment.

      Language assistance includes the translation of written voting materials at all stages of the electoral process, including voter registration forms, ballots, notices and instructions, as well as oral language assistance, such as interpreters and bilingual poll workers.

Section 203 applies to Alaskan Natives, American Indians, Asian Americans, and persons of Spanish heritage.

      Thirteen years ago, I testified before the House Judiciary

Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights, in support of the

Voting Rights Act Language Assistance Act of 1992. The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) supported the creation of the new, alternate numerical benchmark of 10,000 language minority citizens to trigger Section 203 coverage, because large concentrations of Asian Americans in urban areas, such as New York City and Los Angeles, would not have been covered under the existing 5% threshold.  At that time, no Asian American in New York had ever been elected to Congress, the New York State Legislature or the New York City Council. We found in our multilingual exit polls of Asian American voters in New York that 4 out of 5 voters in Manhattan’s Chinatown and Flushing, Queens did not speak or read much English, and that they would vote more often if bilingual assistance were provided.

      There was widespread bipartisan support in Congress in 1992 to expand coverage through an alternative numerical benchmark of 10,000 voting age citizens of a single language minority. As a result, over 200,000 Asian Americans nationwide, in 10 counties in California, Hawaii and New York, became eligible to receive minority language assistance under Section 203. The number of covered jurisdictions increased again after Census 2000, expanding language assistance to over 672,000 Asian Americans residing in 16 counties in 7 states, with some jurisdictions providing assistance in one or more Asian languages.

      The Asian American population remains one of the fastest growing communities of color in the United States. According to Census 2000, Asian citizens of voting age numbered 3.9  million in 1996, and rose from 4.7 million in 2000 to 6.7 million in 2004. Asian American voter turnout is also steadily increasing, from 1.7 million in 1996, to nearly 3 million in 2004. (U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey). 

Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act: A Success Story

Section 203 has removed barriers to voting and opened up the political process to thousands of Asian Americans, many of them first-time voters and new citizens. According to AALDEF’s 2004 exit poll of 11,000 Asian American voters, almost one-third of all respondents needed some form of language assistance in order to vote, and the greatest beneficiaries of language assistance (46%) were first-time voters. Of those polled, over 51% of Asian American voters got their news about politics and community issues from the Asian-language media. At the most fundamental level, translated ballots in voting machines have enabled Asian American voters to exercise their right to vote independently and privately inside the voting booth. The availability of interpreters in polling places provides additional oral language assistance for Asian American voters who are not fully proficient in English. Since the 1992 amendments to Section 203, there have been important gains in Asian American electoral representation. In New York City, the municipality with the nation’s largest Asian American population, the first Asian American, John Liu, was elected to the New York City Council in 2001. Jimmy Meng was elected the first Asian American member of the NY State Assembly in 2004. Both Liu and Meng

were elected in Queens County, one of three counties in New York City covered by Section 203. In California, the state with the largest Asian American population, there were no Asian Americans serving on the state legislature in 1990, and now, there are nine. In Houston, Texas, the first Vietnamese American, Hubert Vo, was elected to the state legislature in 2004, within years after Vietnamese language assistance was required in Harris County under Section 203.

      Section 203 has also aided grass-roots efforts to increase voter registration among eligible Asian Americans. As compared to a decade ago, when only a small number of nonpartisan groups did voter registration, there are now scores of new Asian American groups and coalitions throughout the country doing voter education and registration in the Korean, Filipino, Asian Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese communities.

CONCLUSION

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been called one of the most effective pieces of civil rights legislation in American history. Section 203 is the provision of the Voting Rights Act that most directly removes barriers to voting for Asian Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans, who are limited English proficient and in need of language assistance in order to participate effectively in the electoral process. At a time when the Voting Rights Act is beginning to have real significance for the growing population of Asian Americans, it is essential that Section 203 be extended for 25 years and also expanded, so that Asian Americans can overcome a legacy of institutional racism and participate fully in the democratic process.