LETTER: Why are ballots in Spanish?

Dan F. Desiderio Las Vegas

2 years ago

FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2021, file photo, voters wait in line to cast their ballots in Georgia's ... — FILE – In this Jan. 5, 2021, file photo, voters wait in line to cast their ballots in Georgia’s Senate runoff election in Atlanta. The sweeping rewrite of Georgia’s election rules that was signed into law by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp Thursday, March 25, 2021, represents the first big set of changes since former President Donald Trump’s repeated, baseless claims of fraud following his presidential loss to Joe Biden. Georgia’s new, 98-page law makes numerous changes to how elections will be administered, including a new photo ID requirement for voting absentee by mail. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

The primary election is coming up, and early voting is underway. I can see where Jack Oliver was going in his May 18 letter asking why candidates resort to using campaign language other than English. In the “Official Sample Ballot” it states, “In accordance with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, all elections in Clark County must be conducted in English, Filipino and Spanish.” Besides the obvious use of English, I don’t see why the Spanish and Filipino languages are specifically targeted.

And to Bob Roth’s May 28 letter in which he objected to voting for judges — and for regents, trustees and sheriff — my sentiments exactly. These candidates should be appointed. The general public may not know anything about their qualifications — or who they are, for that matter.