Yup'ik voters seek language assistance at polls

Tuesday, May 6, 2008  

Yup'ik voters in the Bethel region of Alaska filed a federal lawsuit to obtain Native language assistance at the polls.

The Native American Rights Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union say local and state officials are violating the Voting Rights Act by not providing oral language assistance to Yup'ik voters and by not translating voting materials into Yupi'k.

"Election officials expect Yup'ik voters to understand translations which are incomprehensible, inaccurate, confusing, and cause them to vote the wrong way," NARF AND ACLU said in a press release.

The state Divison of Elections says it has already been addressing Native language use at the polls.

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Yup'ik voters want help at polls (AP 5/6)