The U.S. Census Bureau recently released a list of 248 jurisdictions across the county that must provide language assistance for those unable to speak or understand English adequately, in keeping with the intent of the Voting Rights Act, according to a county news release.
Montrose County Clerk and Recorder Fran Tipton Long said the census bureau looks at data such as percentage of the population and literacy rates in deciding which jurisdictions must provide language assistance.
“It’s a relief finally knowing what direction future elections in Montrose County will be taking,” Tipton Long said in a statement.
The census bureau statistics came from the 2005-2009 American Community Survey estimates, she said.
The 248 covered jurisdictions are 3.1 percent of the 2,920 counties and 4,972 minor civil divisions that comprise the political subdivisions in the United States, according to a county news release. There are 65,596,005 voting age eligible citizens in the covered jurisdictions, or 30.7 percent of the total U.S. citizen voting age population. The determinations found a total national population of 19,209,431 voting-age citizens from the language minority groups that reside in the 248 covered jurisdictions, compared with 13,463,635 and 296 jurisdictions in 2002, an increase of 42.7 percent. The determinations found a total of 14,794,716 Hispanics, 4,030,110 Asians and 384,605 American Indian/Alaskan Natives voting-age citizens in the covered jurisdictions.
A complete listing of which jurisdictions are covered, and for which language minority groups, can be found on the Federal Register Notice Public Inspection site at: http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2011-26293_PI.pdf . The Federal Register Notice can be viewed at: http://www.census.gov/rdo/data/voting_rights_determination_file.html.
Post a Comment
