Illinois Republican Party Chairman Bob Grogan has voiced significant concerns regarding Chicago’s expansion of election ballots to 12 different languages, arguing that this move complicates the already challenging task of independently monitoring election integrity. Grogan asserts that the proliferation of versions in languages like Tagalog, Gujarati, and Urdu creates additional hurdles for election judges and party observers who are responsible for verifying the accuracy of ballots distributed to voters. He questions the necessity of such extensive translation, suggesting that many immigrants who speak these languages are also proficient in English, labeling the expansion as “big city virtue signaling” and “a solution in search of a problem.” While federal law mandates translations in Spanish, Chinese, and Hindi in specific precincts, Chicago’s Board of Elections extends this to 11 other languages to maintain uniformity with Cook County, even though data from the March primary shows minimal usage for some of these less common languages, with only single-digit ballots cast in Gujarati, Urdu, Arabic, Russian, and Ukrainian. In contrast, Polish and Chinese translations saw thousands of uses, with Hindi, Korean, and Tagalog also being utilized. Grogan highlighted the inconsistency in language accessibility across different counties, pointing out that Chicago offers more options than neighboring DuPage County. The core of his apprehension lies in the potential for election security vulnerabilities, as election judges and observers may struggle to scrutinize ballots in languages they do not understand, though the Chicago Board of Elections counters that they employ multilingual staff and have multilingual judges available, with multilingual ballots constituting a small percentage of total votes cast. Grogan remains concerned that widespread use of these less common languages could indeed increase the risk of undetected issues, making comprehensive oversight more difficult.
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