City Launches Voter Registration Forms In Five New Languages

By Elizabeth Elizalde

Just in time for election day.

Voter registration forms in five new languages — Russian, Urdu, Haitian Creole, French and Arabic — are available under the City’s effort to expand voting participation, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.

“No one should be disenfranchised because of their language,” the mayor said. “These voter registration forms in five new languages will help us involve even more New Yorkers in the voting process. New York is a city of immigrants, and these forms will help New Yorkers of every background cast their ballots on Election Day.”

New York City is home to 3.7 million foreign-born immigrants, according to census numbers.

“We are sending a clear message: civic participation matters for all New Yorkers and all citizens should be able to exercise their right to vote,” Nisha Agarwal, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, said during a press conference at the Homecrest Library in Sheepshead Bay.

Mayor de Blasio’s administration has already taken steps to increase voter participation and to reduce electoral barriers. He has worked with the City Council to make sure voter registration agencies provide people – many first-time voters — with assistance when completing their forms.

Election day is a couple of months away and the City will add more voter registration forms in other languages beyond those announced today. This provides eligible New York voters who have limited English language skills with access to translated registration forms.

“It is critical that nobody is excluded from exercising their democratic right to vote simply because of a language barrier,” said Councilman Chaim Deutsch. “Providing voter registration forms in several new languages is an important step forward as New York City becomes even more inclusive and supportive of the cultural diversity that is all around us.”

In previous election cycles, voter registration forms were available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Bangla. Forms in those languages are still available to the public.

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz praised the mayor’s initiative and said “[voting] is a civic responsibility that our immigrants are eager to fulfill but often the language barrier makes it impossible.”

“They see their neighbors voting — but they can’t read the ballot. Or they want to register to vote – but they can’t read the form. These are basic freedoms that they’re being denied,” he said. “This is New York, where our citizens live, work, pay taxes and, yes, have the right to vote.”

Note: The new forms will be available on the Campaign Finance Board website (www.nyccfb.info/), which is also found on the homepage of NYC.gov under “Register to Vote.”