Posted on Mon, Jun. 05, 2006
Justice Department monitors elections in seven Calif. counties
Associated Press
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice said Monday that it will monitor Tuesday's primary election in seven California counties to make sure officials adequately serve voters who don't speak English.
Alameda, Orange, San Benito, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Ventura counties all are required to provide election information, ballots and voting assistance information in one or more minority languages under the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act.
In San Diego County, for instance, officials settled a federal lawsuit in 2004 by agreeing to provide voting materials in Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese, along with poll workers who can translate in those languages.
Alameda County is using paper ballots in Tuesday's primary because its 4,000 Diebold Election Systems touchscreen machines failed to meet federal and state standards. That is expected to cause delays in reporting the election outcome because the county does not have enough optical scanners to count the ballots at all polling places.
more...
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/14747013.htm