SALT LAKE CITY — The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah has sent a letter to every county clerk in the state, reminding them to provide language assistance to voters.
It tells them that under federal law, clerks are required to provide help to voters who may have limited English proficiency either in written materials or with translation help.
"The purpose of the letter is twofold. It's so that the county clerks are aware of this and they provide assistance to everyone who needs this and so that community members know this as well," Andrea Jimenez Flores, an immigrants rights policy analyst at the ACLU of Utah, said in an interview Friday with FOX 13 News.
There is precedence for this in Utah. The ACLU was a part of a lawsuit filed against San Juan County over voter language assistance. The litigation alleged that the county's reliance on vote-by-mail and fewer in-person voting locations created problems for Navajo speaking voters. San Juan County, the ACLU and the Navajo Nation Human Rights Commission settled the lawsuit in 2018.
San Juan County has agreed to extend voter assistance for Navajo voters through the 2024 elections.
"Historically, we've heard across the state that there are people who do not speak English as their primary language who have had issues obtaining language assistance," Jimenez Flores said. "Up until recently, Salt Lake County was the only one who provided these translated materials."
Weber County Clerk Ricky Hatch told FOX 13 News his office provides language assistance.
"We get letters periodically from various groups reminding us we have to comply with the law. We comply with the law," he said Friday. "We care about serving our voters and every county I'm aware of in Utah already complies with the language requirement set forth in federal law. Every county clerk cares about serving the voters regardless of where they are."
The ACLU said it would collect information from any voter who experiences an issue with language assistance to work with county clerks in future election cycles to provide help.
