LANGUAGE   INTERPRETATION  SERVICES FOR VOTERS

 

If you are not proficient in the English language well enough to vote without assistance, federal voting rights law requires, and the City and Philadelphia County Board of Elections has provided, various means for providing you written and oral language assistance in English and Spanish. 

 

PRINTED INFORMATION AND MATERIALS

 

ü      All the materials you will need to vote are printed and available in both ENGLISH and SPANISH.

 

ü      Voting information, including the pink Sample Ballot, the blue Penalties, Instructions, Federal Voting Rights poster, and the Statement on Accessibility for the Disabled are printed in English and Spanish.  Poll officials have been instructed to post all signs both in ENGLISH and SPANISH so that all voters can easily view such signs.

 

PERSONAL ORAL LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE

 

ü      In certain voting divisions, oral Spanish language assistance is available to voters through the use of an assigned interpreter or a trained Election Board member sufficiently proficient in Spanish.  Some voting divisions may have interpreters or Election Board members who can interpret languages other than Spanish.  Ask the Election Board members (polling place officials) working at the table if oral language assistance is available.   

 

TELEPHONE ORAL LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE

 

ü      If no interpreter has been assigned to your polling place or there is no Election Board member available who is sufficiently proficient in Spanish or the language you require at your polling place, the City has a Telephone Interpreter Service available for use from the polling place.  This service can provide interpretation services for 173 different languages.  Ask the Election Board members (polling place officials) working at the table to use the Telephone Interpreter Service Instruction Card (small blue) to contact the service and to assist you in using the service.

 

LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE FROM A RELATIVE, FRIEND, NEIGHBOR OR ANOTHER VOTER

 

ü      Federal voting rights law requires that Election Board members MUST allow voters, who are disabled, or cannot read or write English, to select any person of their choice, other than a Judge of Election, the voter’s employer or an officer of the voter’s union, to assist them with the voting process.  You can select anyone you want to provide oral language assistance.  Tell the polling place officials you want to have someone of your choice assist you in voting. 

 

If your voter record in the Pollbook is not marked “Assistance Permitted”,  you and the person you chose to assist you will have to complete and sign an “Assistance    Declaration” form which is available at the polls.