SCOTT COUNTY, IOWA, Iowa — A lawsuit has been filed by Iowa's League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) for what they say is years of failure to provide non-English election materials for voters who do not speak the language.
LULAC issued a press release on Thursday, October 28, saying the legal action against the State of Iowa focuses on the law passed in 2008, which allows translated materials if they are, "necessary to secure the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America or the Constitution of the State of Iowa."
"The right to vote is clearly guaranteed by our state constitution, the U.S. Constitution, and federal law," said Nick Salazar, LULAC Iowa State Director. "Congress has already determined that native-language voting materials are needed to secure rights for voters with limited English-language skill. Legally the English-only Law doesn't apply to voting materials."
In July, LULAC filed a petition for declaratory order to Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. The group asked for clarity on the following:
- May county auditors outside of Buena Vista County accept and use the official Spanish-language versions of the State of Iowa Official Voter Registration Form and the State of Iowa Official Absentee Ballot Request Form?
- Must county auditors in all Iowa counties accept and use the official Spanish-language version of the National Mail Voter Registration Form?
- May county auditors outside of Buena Vista county accept and use the official Spanish-language version of the State of Iowa Official Absentee Ballot Request Form?
In response to the petition, the Iowa Secretary of State's office has said their language usage is following a court order.
"The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office is still under injunction stemming from a 2008 court decision which prevents the dissemination of official voter registration forms for this state in languages other than English," said a spokesperson from the state office. "LULAC is aware of that fact. They openly recognized it in their own petition."
LULAC began preparing their lawsuit in September after Pate's office said they are prohibited from using non-English voter registration forms, but did not address whether its use is necessary to, "secure the right to vote."
"This is a fight for our community," said Joe Henry in September, LULAC Iowa's Political Director. "We're asking Secretary Pate to do the right thing, which is guaranteed under federal law. If he does not, then we will need to go to court and argue our positions there."
According to LULAC, more than 8% of Iowans predominantly speak languages other than English. The group also says Spanish speakers are the largest-language minority in Iowa.
“Iowa has over 50,000 citizens eligible to vote who predominantly speak Spanish. The English-only Law has been used as a vehicle to promote racism in Iowa,” Henry said. “Those who voted for it and signed it into law should have known that it could be weaponized to attack our Latino and immigrant communities. Clearly this was the intention of then legislator Steve King when he sued to end the practice of translating ballots and other voting materials.”
The lawsuit names Pate, the Iowa Voter Registration Commission, and auditors from four counties whose 2008 officials who LULAC says joined former U.S. Representative Steve King as plaintiffs to challenge then Secretary of State Michael Mauro’s decision to keep providing voter materials in Spanish, Laotian, Bosnian, and Vietnamese.
Iowa’s English-only Law was signed by former Governor Tom Vilsack in 2002.