DuPage to have bilingual ballots
By David Sharos For The Beacon-News September 27, 2012 5:02PM
Updated: October 29, 2012 6:56AM
For the first time, DuPage County will have bilingual ballots for the general election in November.
Ballots will be printed in English and Spanish, as will supplementary election materials, and Spanish-speaking election judges will be on duty in certain precincts.
Robert Saar, executive director of the Election Commission, said the latest data shows Hispanics account for about 13 percent of the population in DuPage.
He said the county has been working to reach out to its growing Hispanic community.
“We’ve made changes to our website, our phone answering service, our absentee application and more,” Saar said. “This is a part of the Voting Rights Act and whatever we’ve been mandated to do we have done.”
Saar said language skills were evaluated as part of the interview process for election judges. There are plans to have 120 bilingual judges in place on election day to help Spanish speakers with the voting process.
