Expanding The Ballot: Providing Language Assistance To Non-English Proficient Voters Through Multilingual Poll Workers

In 2018, Andrew Goodman Puffin Democracy Fellow Usjid Hameed worked with All Voting is Local, CAIR-Ohio, and the local Board of Elections to provide on-site, Election Day language assistance to voters who are not proficient in English. Thanks to Usjid’s efforts, 44 multilingual poll workers provided language assistance in Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and Somali at 42 polling locations in Franklin County, Ohio. Expanding the Ballot: Providing Language Assistance to Non-English Proficient Voters Through Multilingual Poll Workers is a how-to guide that explains how voting rights advocates can replicate Usjid’s approach with a six-step process in counties across the United States.