Executive director of Asian Americans advancing justice. Mr. Yang leads the organization his to fight Asian Americans to create just america for all through Public Policy advocacy education litigation. His extensive legal background enables advancing justice to address the study all season programs legislative attempts to discriminate against and marginalize Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and other minority communities. Mr. Vargas is the chief executive officer latino and elected officials. A nation a Membership Organization of latina policymakers and their supporters, governed by a 35 member board of directors. This vargas also serves is ceo and educational, and affiliated National Nonprofit organization strengthens american democracy by promoting full participation of latinos in pacific life. Mr. Son. Is the president and general counsel of the Mexican AmericanLegal Defense fund Legal Defense and educational fund. A lease the rights organizations offices in pursuing litigation and policy advocacy and community ed education to promote civil rights latinos leaving in the United States. Mr. Son has rejoined modicon august of 2009 after spending four years of counsel to the mayor of los angeles. Mr. Stein has previously spent 12 years at on a practicing civil rights law. What was her. Not least Michelle Bishop, she is the disability advocacy specialist for Voting Rights of the National Disability rights network. She is responsible for coordinating Voting Rights to initiatives in every u. S. State district and territory, as well is providing training and Technical Assistance and dr nationwide network regarding Voting Rights and access for voters with disabilities. On the help america vote act. Is bishop also works in coalition with Civil Rights Community in washington dc to ensure strong federal policy regarding Voting Rights and election ministration. I think you all for being here is you know the lighting issues, we do begin speaking, when i will come on you have five minutes. At one minute remaining used in the yellow live come on in the oc the red live on which is going to indicate the need to try wrap up your testimony. Mr. Yang you know recognized for five minutes. Thank you. They first start by offering my condolences for the representative of cummings. To represented coming cummings wasnt champion for so monday of our issues. And his loss is going to be lost not just lose congress before the entire nation. Really appreciate having an inviting us to test right here today. On Language Access and the importance of this to Asian Americans in particular. While the Voting Rights act of 1965 has been helps to ensure Language Access to Asian Americans. It is only one piece of the puzzle we need to look at when making sure that Asian Americans are represented. They supported startup by recognizing the asianamerican community. Pearson American Communities the Fastest Growing community in the United States. Between the 2000 and and 200010 census, the asianamerican community has grown by 46 percent today we represent about 22. 6 million in the United States which is the little bit over 6 percent of the american population. With respect to funding, we have also increased dramatically numbers over the years. Doing the 2012 election in 2016 election, then increase by over 1 million voters. It is also important to know that Asian Americans are not monolithic. Certainly there are numerous Asian Americans in urban centers throughout the country. Our Fastest Growing populations are in nevada and arizona in North Carolina and georgia. So the needs of Asian Americans often times are very diverse. With prospective Language Access, we represent over a hundred different languages from 60 different asian human cities. Ensuring that that Asian Americans have information in the language that they understand best is always a challenge. And i personally language minority voters, are often denied much of the need it federally required assistance at the public loophole and faced numerous barriers at the polls. First, problems can arise when all workers do not fully understand the Voting Rights laws. Poll workers often times unfortunately been hostile to their own backgrounds or have language issues. We do look at things the asianAmerican Voters voters have, they are challenged with respect to their identification. Both of they are a citizen or both of they belong in the polls. I will be relatively brief. I just offer some recommendations with some respect with what can be done with the language assistance. With respect to language assistance, what i think we can do is to make sure to translate materials are available. Effective in conducting a comprehensive review election materials to make sure that they really had to fight materials to go to the need it communities. W certified translators and the use certified translation members to make sure the translations are Community Oriented and using communitybased organization as well. To assure that they speak in language not only legal language that is appropriate in a communitybased language and culture that is appropriate. With respect to the actual pulse, taking protections that are necessary, one of the things also is making sure that you have assistance on section 28 of the voters right act to ensure that people are allowed their choice. Now Election Officials should provide bilingual all workers with separate training. In a language assistance. So what should be done in their wishes but regardless both of the jurisdictions are covered, every poll worker should be trained to understand the needs of the language minority butter. Have a poll worker can best assess that voter. And having 80 roleplaying exercise to ensure englishspeaking workers as well is the language coworkers can provide assistance and the per the know how to handle situations and other rights. In the Election Assistance Commission can provide a role in that. Providing perhaps an educational infrastructure that would allow for best practices. To provide some of these exercises that i described. Certainly jurisdictions have also on a military base is provided languages this is provides translated materials. We seen that in Fairfax County even though technically it was hard covered by section two oh three, they decided to offer language assistance to both korean speaking population that fell short of it as well is providing it to vietnamese population. These are things can get on a basis but certainly are very effective for our communities. It is a fast growing community. Community that is going to be transitioning to u. S. Born Asian Americans in a relatively short matter of time. It would also translate into more voters and people that want to be engaged in electoral process. I would ask this committee to consider all the different ways in which that language assistance can be provided. Thank you very much. Thank you. Your recognize repugnance. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to be here today and we join in the morning and passing of representative cummings. Disorganization recognizes that in despite the guarantees that all of the americas was at the same rights. Our nation has not yet been the goal of democracy. In the past the present policies have been adopted that disenfranchised and are represented voters. [inaudible conversation] fully important grantor of latino voters equal access to the ballot. Substantial number of latinos eligible to vote, are not yet fully fluent in english and their ability to cast an informed successful vote. In a heap is on their access to understandable materials and to persons providing assistance with him they can communicate. According to 2018 acs, when your data, nearly 22 million citizens speak spanish and approximately 6. 3 million of them are not fluent in english. Markets are not yet fluent in english register and vote in lower rates because of the legacy of monday decades of intentional efforts to exclude voters on the basis of their proceeding of National Origin is ongoing negligence and searing administering language assistance, and inattention to discouraging if facts of some Election Administration procedures. Off of millions of potential latino voters enjoy the presumed access to multi lingual information or materials, monday are still indisputably underserved. Just during the 2018 election cycle, reports to the Election Protection coalition hotline, including our frontline which received calls from voters in english and spanish including incidences of spanishspeaking voters in jurisdictions with large speaking populations including in southern californ california, that they were not able to request or to spanishlanguage ballots and significant number of our colors had unmet need for language assistance and live in location in warren county, new jersey, and virginia. Monday jurisdictions have implemented methods of identifying potentially ineligible voters among those registered which disproportionately inhibit language minority voters participations in elections for example, since 2010 a number of states have compared Voter Registration list to information in those states and federal databases that are not designed or useful for voting purposes. And they have erroneously singled out voters were mostly naturalized citizens for purging our demands for documentations. The nation polling place closures, and read alignment also threatens language minority voters participation. To accommodate these trends, members of congress should mandate the use of inclusive administrative practices in federal elections and a sense of eyes, Election Administrators to take proactive steps to better surf language minority voters. Best practices to ensure election accessibility for which congress could provide financial support, include regular consultation with Community Institutions and leaders to represent language minority communities and i will add this is been a very Effective Practice in the past for those of us supervised naturalization assistant services. These have a very Healthy Partnership with the usda is. And i troubleshoot with them. On how to better meet the needs of legal permanent residents applying for u. S. Citizenship. The same concept could be applied to working with local leaders and identify best practices for making voting is accessible to all. There should be regular training for all employees and measures accessibility and adaptation of administration argument, for and avoid the negative impact on my wish minority voters. In the country billing influence on an ministration that is monday applying to reduce or neglect Language Accessibility mandates. Organizational congressional advocates accessibility, you must be prepared to defend basic necessity and utility to providing linkages for elections. Is number americans of diverse National Origins the linguistic grow, and effectiveness in engaging those citizens is active voters will increasingly determine the health of our democracy and the credibility of our government is the product of a truly representative political process. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you man chair and members of the subcommittee. Is president and general counsel i laid seven lawyers across the country regular confronting barriers to access for latino voters in this various both occur at the point based and instructors including election structures to prevent the latino vote from having the effect it would have. But today i want to focus on in the me new challenge to the Latino Community seems to target naturalized citizen voters pretty girls out of this administration his campaign. That puts quantico americans first, or quote unquote citizens first, that framework seems to lead up naturalized citizens. We first saw this in the attempt to and Citizenship Question to sit since 2020 and in doing so the headmistress was clearly seeking to trigger a map of vendor can out of the Latino Community in the first effect of that massive undercount would be on Voting Rights. It would result in an underrepresentation of the Latino Community both in reapportionment and redistributing the seats in the house of representatives among the states and with any state, and reduce training congressional seats as well is state legislative and local. As well. Is we know, this report and an improbable victory prevented for Citizenship Question from going on this is the story type. The Campaign Continues to impact and prevent naturalized latino voters from participating. One example of this is in the executive order that accompanied the decision by the administration to give up attempting to read a Citizenship Question in 2020. That in that executive order the president ordered the Commerce Department to seek administrative record from both federal and state sources to try to put together a database of citizenship around the country. They now learn in recent media reports that one of the main mechanisms they will use to attempt to identify citizens, is dmv records from karen. The problem is, is we recently saw indicates litigated by moldovan others in texas, is the dmv databases with respect to citizenships are notoriously inaccurate. The fact is that someone who goes to dmv before becoming simpson has no obligation or a mini reason to report back to the dmv once and naturalized to become a citizen. They would not have any location you back to the mb until they need to renew drivers license for example. We saw this in texas where texas attempted to purge voters from the hot earls county by county by directing registrars to use faulty dmv data. To send notices to those who were not citizens when they went to the dmv and tell them that they were effectively being accused of being ineligible voters. Fortunately the litigation prevented that from going forward. But we now see that the administration is using the same faulty databases to created the database of citizens with the intent of that then be used, or state or locality might choose to test the constitutional limits of one person and one vote. And might choose to equalize population among districts based on something other than total population. Clearly that use of faulty citizenship data when a tremendous impact on the Voting Rights latinos. And raises monday concerns. Upcoming those concerns are the ongoing rhetoric comes from this administration that seems to target every latino and immigrant in the country regardless if they have naturalized or not. We are concerned that this ongoing rhetoric including the invasions of privacy and he is staying accessing these inaccurate dmv records could result in for the Voting Rights challenges. We are concerned that it could result in the unwarranted challenges to someones eligibility to vote by vigilantes who lets look at that rhetoric in this administration from the white house and beyond, and he said they are going to challenge particular voters namely latino voters are voters who dont speak english voters who up here to them to me donald trump his definition of who its not american. We see this looming threat to voting prices potentially having applications is early is next year. And we are concerned that its a short step from the rhetoric that we hear today to rhetoric the challenges the legal requirement of providing language assistance, bilingual assistance materials and languages and languages other than language and english to voters. We are concerned that is early is next year his election, we will see inappropriate challenges and providing those requirement materials and we will see challenges to the judgment seat and eligibility naturalized but do not yet speak english and these are access barriers that are new. And they are created entirely by the campaign that we see on a daily basis from the trumpet ministration. Reese think this is the leaving danger of voting his rights concerned that this committee and subcommittee should take up an address. Thank you. Thank you ms. Miss bishop you know recognized for five minutes. Jefferson fudge, Ranking Member davis, members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and may i also think congress coming. A Christmas Tree service to this country recipe sir. My name is Michelle Bishop and i am the Voting Rights specialist for the National Disability rights network. And we arent nonprofit Member Organization and federally mandated and protection may advocacy. According to the census bureau, at 256. 7 million americans live with a disability. Its about 19 percent of the nonsense institutionalized ovulation. Centers for Disease Control and prevention and research center, believe that number is actually closer to 25 percent. Our one in four americans. For the records university projected 35. 4 million eligible voters with disabilities are one sixth of the total american electorate in 2016. We are political active. He reports with disabilities are more likely to Pay Attention to president ial elections and i believe the results matter. Despite all of this, american electoral system has a long history of including people with his abilities. Lets start with the obvious. Polling places. The u. S. Government Accountability Office found in 2000 that only 16 percent of polling places an accessible path of travel. 27 percent in 2008, and 40 percent and 2016. 40 percent being the alltime high means that less than half of polling places were accessible during the 2016 election. Polling places are very slowly becoming more accessible, the betting stations within them are coming less so. In 2008, 84 percent of voting must, accessible in 2016, only 35 percent. Architectural access and voting station access combined, only 1s were found to be fully accessible. Americas only places are inexcusably willfully and unjustly out of compliance with the americans with disability act. Is this just large enough, the leadership human rights recently found 13 states closed and overwhelming 1688 only places and just six years. And an alarming trend. Also blaming all enclosures on the ada. Jurisdictions offer elective ada compliance is a pretext for pleasures despite their admitted lack of understanding of the ada failure to provide ada his surveys of the polling places in question, and grossly inflated cost estimates for updating holy places. This ability rights advocates in the department of justice do not advocate for the closure of an accessible polling places. Rather we allow for temporary sameday modifications and curbside voting and other low cost best practices. In a forthcoming report, and here examines the issue polling place for those years and a compliance to doj enforcement in more depth. Our part finds the month of settled are overwhelmingly not moving their holy places. Places. Alternatively the ones that have closer attempted to close, typically were not investigated by the doj and could not provide accessibility surveys and could not provide any evidence of ordination stays in a or other disability advocacy organizations. The 88 and angies enforcement of our undeniably being used is a smokescreen for voter suppression. These barriers have real consequences. Despite the size of the Disability Community enter demonstrated investment elections, with disabilities continue to vote and lori and her nondisabled peers. In 2018, the difference was 4. 8 percent difference. I. 7 percent in 2012. Small percentages that actually equal several million voters. Immediately preceding passage of the help american vault acts the gap and participation was action closer to 20 percent. The data shared a clear narrowing of the Voter Participation gap in the passage may voting drastically more accessible with people with disabilities. To protect all americans, Congress Must first and foremost ask Voting Rights amendment act. Fully restored voting act would prevent polling place closures to threaten the axis the vault heading into the 2020 residential election. Congressional funding is sorely need it to ensure that Election Officials can continually acquire maintain it and equipment. The territorial government and pna of the northern Mariana Islands as well is the native American Disability Law Center community, they also need to have the funding to ensure access to the vault for Pacific Islanders and native americans with disability. Extending funding to the only units excluded from, the symbol and nocost legislation. Finally each of the patchwork of federal laws ensures americas Electoral Systems are accessible to all eligible fighters must be enforced to their full capacity. Americas democracy is only a strong is its ability to hear the voices of all americans. Thank you. Thank you thank you very mu much. Recognized five minutes. Thank you. Mr. Yang magus with you then and work our way down to mr. Morrison. And then to ms. Bishop. I have separate question for you. We talked about language assistance and obviously there has best practices seem pretty reasonable. More balance in multiple languages. What are some of the things we can do you mentioned full training. What are some other ideas that we can continue do with the language assistance frame that we could invest in and support in order to make a difference and ensure people have access to the ballot. I think poll worker training if i could expand a little bit. It is developing and training modules. Sometimes when people think a poll worker training to think about making sure that the lab translators are people that speak multiple languages that are surfing is hoarders. Thats certainly one component of it but the other component is making sure the speak english that are working there, they still cant recognize the situation is it develops. In the know how to handle it. For example, if i am a company my mother to polling station, the back of my mother doesnt speak english well, that poll worker has to understand that i am there to help. And that that is within her rights is a voter. And unfortunately there are a lot of poll workers not through, only to be generous here not through any and tent to discriminate between not understand the laws well enough it is really having an infrastructure that has that learning modules in place. Some of it is very simple. I mean, think about low hanging fruit. Just having translation in trifles that are sitting on counters. That sort of makes people feel comfortable. See oh theyre our translator ballots or materials available. People see this is especially new immigrants often do not understand the rights. This is just comfortable in the process. Certainly for my organization is speaking at the for all immigrants, just is you know no less of a citizen because youve disability, you are no less of a citizen because english its not your first language. So our job is to find ways to make sure people feel they are equal citizens in democracy. Congressman the fact is there are monday jurisdictions they get it right. And they have been providing way which assistance to voters for years. No are concerned about is places around the country that are nearly being required to provide language assistance with burstein, there is no need to really recreate the wheel and they can adopt best practices. Congress can do. How could a manual of best practices be provided to other jurisdictions who for the first time are being required to provide language assistance. So they dont repeat the same mistakes that have been committed before an attack by the best access to voters who are newly covered on section two oh three. Only focus on the fact that jurisdictions by section two affair regularly expanding. I think we need find a way to anticipate where the extension will occur and begin working with those jurisdictions to connect them. And with the old ones in our state road where they are first in the state, with those in other states. I also think there is a broader effort about really educating the public. About folks rights so that they understand that this its not illegitimate. No can have vigilante volunteers or others who would add their views the nothing like i think there is a broader education effort to start with both of we know. Thank you. Wanted to talk a little bit about the participating among workers with disabilities. How is, helped close the gap. He took a a little bit about that. Absolutely. Prior prior to the act, its even less to make it accessible to all. Profoundly little. Im sure all of us remember voting on punchcard system. Not only difficult to the average american to line up properly and use the virtually impossible for people with certain types of disability. The American Voters voted privately and independently for the very first time after abdul was passed. That is americans who began voting when they were 18. And were able to vote with privacy and independence until they were in their 60s and 70s this was their entire lives having to have someone else mark their ballot for them. Because that ballot was not accessible. In itself privacy, should be a right and a security feature. I miss my bella independently is been marked in the way that i intend. Rather than to have take those leap of faith is a voter who potentially is blind. And i know that somebody marked the ballot that i intended. It was a longstanding failure i believe of our electoral process that we are not providing accessibility of the ballot to voters with disabilities the polo issue itself. The americans disability act is the Gold Standard in making sure the polling places are accessible and did not become law until 1990. There is a lot every day said there was passed in the early 80s. For the elderly and the candy cap but that is still the early 1980s. Prior to that we were doing virtually nothing to make sure that the electoral process was accessible to americans with disabilities. So, represents an enormously leap forward and making sure that everyone is able to cast a ballot. Major factor in causing that gap. Its not accessible to you, then that is sending a message that you know not welcome. And that your vote is and does not matter. Thank you ms. Bishop may i just see, i dont even know where to begin. A lot. We know 88 exists. We know how to exist. What is their rationale not complying with the law. This one trying to figure out. Tonight there are monday. We here very often, i work a lot with state and local Election Officials is do the organizations that are internetwork and cna his. We hear very often and it is difficult to find only places that are compliant. Do not entirely wrong about that compliance with the ada overall is lacking. There are not that monday locations that are fully compliant and they also have to be wheeling to surf is a polling place which is voluntary. So we hear that often. We hear the fighting polling places that are suitably located as well is a large enough number of them, we also get accounts of coworkers who are not adequately changed and ready interact with voters with disabilities they come to the voting polling place. Not necessarily aware of all of the accommodations they are required to provide. There is a widespread failure in the United States to really fully understand all of the provisions that the americans with disabilities act in particular how they apply to elections. I consider it primarily. We believe the Voting Rights is so important. The department of justice and organizations like team as have to able to go out and push for that enforcement to that compliance with the ada that went out the threat that the responsible will be to close large numbers of link places. We dont make polling places accessible by causing them. Make them accessible by making them accessible. But that went out the protections of preclearance and the Voting Rights act, our job becomes excessively more difficult. Thank you. Ten and the gentleman, i listened to each of you see that education and education a whole workers etc. It was extremely important. Monday believe is responsible for the education and that outreach. The Election Officials at the local loophole are responsible for that. And they should be held accountable to make sure that they provide an education for the workers they employ. We also know that monday of them are challenged and funny enough for workers. It with the language ability necessary to meet the needs and local communities. I think one of the areas where congress could be helpful is supervising and providing more incentives. Identify and help local Election Officials recruit and train all workers so that with the language abilities need it, and the voters in their jurisdictions. Image assesses question since you know, the ceo of a nail. Do you all not at points just recommend to the local board of elections, we have these people who are wheeling to surf in an on election day or whatever to get trained. These are people who can accommodate the issues that we have. Do you make those recommendations and they just dont accept them or how does that work. Wisdom to and we also try to identify other strategies to expand the number of people who are eligible. Remember for some folks, they have to give up a day of work. And that is that something the people are able to do. Monday times are not. , to give up a full days of work and not get compensated by their employers. Which is one of the reasons why he supported among High School Students to be able to work is borders. Even though they themselves do not have the right to vote yet, they did have the skill sets in order to vote in incentives and strategies that can be employed to do that. So, when you are confronted with frederick as we see daily from the Trump Administration that seems to discourage participation of immigrants come there is no way naturalized citizens are naturally immune from thats so ther that so thea deterrent. Said they dont even get to that point . In some cases they would be detoured and in other cases be concerned they themselves might be challenged, particularly if they are a citizen that means language assistance in some way at the polling place, but theres also of course this danger accessing inaccurate data even though it is going to be used in aggregate it still means a naturalized citizen is aware that the government is seeking information that may inaccurately identify still has a noncitizen. And it can encourage others may be led by the rhetoric to challenge that persons participation. So, it all sounds from the practices and rhetoric from the administration that its not seeking accurate data its raising those kind of concerns and it is diminishing the citizenship if you will of those that are not native born citizens of the country. If i may add a very briefly to that, about two thirds of the community are immigrants or about over 90 , 92 are immigrants or children of immigrants, so although they are naturalizing at a fast rate the trajectory is they are going to be citizens within each of those households. But it is within the household of the spheres that are being raised about what it means and we are not even talking about this with legal permanent residents. Their children that may be of voting age have certain fears of how they want to put their family and that includes all sorts of different types into that public. So what do you think we can do to combat that . There has to be a counter rhetoric that can come from the congress to also help elected officials who want to make sure that there is widespread knowledge everyone including naturalized citizens have the right to vote. They should look at whether there should be limits accessing to determine citizenship population which is ongoing right now with advancing justice and having the challenge but theyre also need to be additional efforts to prevent accessing private data that is numbingly inaccurate and attempting to somehow say that is an indication of who are the citizens and where are they in the country. Be filed in federal court in maryland challenging the executive order that involved accessing the administrative records and a number of claims including the administrative procedure act and constitutional claims at the same unconstitutional racial discriminatory intent that motivated the addition of the Citizenship Question behind this other effort as well. Do you have anything else you want to add . The last thing i want to add quickly is if there is one thing you think we can have an affect on one thing you want us to do from this committees perspective that will make the situation better, what with that one thing be . Im trying to choose among so many things. I think that one of the most important things that congress can do to support making elections fully accessible to all is to provide funding to upgrade their equipment into the Network Needs additional funding to do the work that we do. Also one of the things that hasnt been mentioned as Research Development funding to support Better Solutions. As mentioned earlier for the first time many were able to vote privately and independently because the help america vote act. We need them to develop Better Solutions that will solve both of those problems. It isnt a bigmoney industry if he were. If congress is able to support those efforts, i do believe that we can develop Voting Solutions that are more accessible and secure going forward. I would say looking into this accessing state databases that are known to be inaccurate because even accessing the data is always a shortlived in this task force and can have Chilling Effect on voters. I would say the staff for the commission. I guess i cant overstate promoting the best practices and through that education transparency. Making sure that the state especially all of you have the connections to local state officials, local state representatives to make sure they understand this. And holding them accountable. Obviously one of the Things Holding them accountable doesnt necessarily mean the representative making sure that they understand the consequences of this because we are trying to do is represent the american people. Thank you all. This has been a very interesting day just to understand the myriad of things happening across the country to make it difficult for people to vote. Thank you for the work you do and taking the time to testify today. And i hope that he will continue to fight the good fight because obviously there are certain things we can do in certain things we cannot, but i appreciate you sharing with us what you are seeing on a daily basis. And it gives us an idea what we can do looking at legislation going forward. Again i thank you for being here and without objection, the subcommittee stands adjourned. [inaudible conversations] after the president ial election and he served 12 days at the federal prison after pleading guilty to making false statements to fbi agents involved in the investigation. He later wrote a book about the experience titled deep state