Why do you think our forfathers never made English the official language, do you know? We had french, and spanish and english here...? I've always wondered about that....?
I think it is none of our business what each state and each local district does with their ballots for their own communities and it would be a far over reach of the federal government to get involved in State election law.
I think it would be similar to a toll tax in solid chinese communities within new york or other places like san francisco to have the ballots only in English....especially since it is not our official language via the constitution or our forefathers...making citizens of the united states "meet a test" in order to vote or is equivalent to "pay" to vote.....
I think the gvt would lose in this case, if it went to the Supreme court.
So why bother, let each district do what they need to do, to accomodate their own TAX PAYING CITIZEN VOTERS....? as long as english is the original ballot and these others come secondary I'm fine and even with that, i don't have a say so because it is not my taxes paying for it, it is the state and their localities paying for it.... in Maine the demographics are 97% caucasian...we have some american indians and some african americans that make up the 2%-3% not caucasian...i don't even think hispanics register a half of a percentage point, and virtually no chinese....so my state does not have a problem with any of this and they should not be forced in to some unconstitutional, unfunded, federal mandate to change their election law....
Each state, should address their own problems with their own election law, that is what a Republic is suppose to be about...
care
Your points sound compelling, until you realize that knowledge of English is a citizenship requirement, and has been for a very, very long time. Too bad you weren't around back in the day to point out to those men who made that a law the error of their ways. Also, I really hate to point this out to you, but being a taxpayer does not in and of itself make you eligible to vote. As far as your take on what a Republic is and needs, There actually are some people out here who believe that a Republic needs to have a strong sense of past and purpose, and a common language is an important part of making that happen. And please, for the love of God, don't resort to romanticizing the actions and intents of the founding fathers. I swear, with all of the so-called experts on the founders on this board, it's a damn shame the Revolution happened in the 18th Century, those guys back then stole all of your thunder.
the ability to answer the
handful of questions asked of you in english, of which they give you months ahead of time to memorize, is a requirement of citizenship, this is why you have american sponsors i think? ....this was the case with my grandparents, my parents sponsored them...they were my grandparents backbone to becoming citizens and even all the years they lived here after they got their citizenship.
how long has this law been in effect, since the forefathers?
do you think we don't overwhelmingly have a common language in the united states with our ballots? and again, what business is it of yours when we reside in a republic which dictates election law, to the states not the federal gvt and any song and a dance you give does NOT change that....?
i totally agree that only citizens of the united states can vote and i never said differently so where you were coming from with that comment about tax payers vs citizens, i have no idea?
i contend that as a citizen, voting is one of the most important things you can do to keep democracy going...
i believe there are communities, like in areas of brooklyn, where there are many citizens that do not speak english fluently....italian communities, where you can buy your fresh bread and groceries and auto parts, all in italian....the store owners and employees speak both english, for the children of these immigrants and italian for the older folks, their parents....
the same in China town....
and all of them knew politically what was going on because they read their daily newspapers in italian that kept them up to date....i even found from my experience that these immigrant citizens knew more about our government than the average born usa citizen....
same in china town.....
anyone young in these communities will be bilingual and this is critical assimilation that takes place for them in schools, so there will be no problems with the next generation of these immigrants knowing the english language....but the older ones....as the saying goes, it's hard to teach an old dog, new tricks....at least not well....
i know it would be very hard for me to move to china and learn their language fluently in a short time...or ever!!!!
so, again, i differ with you in giving some kind of power to the fed on this....i think each locality should do what is right for their area....if they want to nix their bilingual ballots they can, or keep them, they can....afterall the government is merely a representation of its citizens...not some elite class that gets to govern the rest of us...
courses for legal immigrants to learn our language could be helpful as well
care