SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) – South Dakota Voices for Peace is helping make voting easier for multilingual speakers by translating the state’s sample ballot into the four most common non-English languages ​​in Sioux Falls.

Organization dedicated to immigration rights is now Sample ballot papers are available on their website Spanish, Arabic, Nepali and Amharic, one of the Ethiopian languages.

“If you read the ballot initiatives, the language is quite confusing, even for an English speaker,” said Voices for Peace Executive Director Taneeza Islam. “We hope that the translation will help those who understand it better in their own language understand what is on the ballot.”

federal law It allows people to bring a sample ballot with them to the voting booth. Multilingual voters can print out a translated ballot, receive education in their native language about who they want to vote for, and then fill out the official ballot at the voting booth or by absentee ballot, Islam said.

“I think it’s really important to also signal to our multilingual communities that we want them to interact,” Islam added. “That’s kind of the other side of the coin and why we do this work. “When you connect communities with their own language, they feel more part of the process.”

Selene Zamorano-Ochoa is president and CEO of the South Dakota Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He works with Spanish speakers and Hispanic business owners and said a lack of resources around elections can deter people from voting.

“They can only watch ‘Univision,’ which is generic but has nothing to do with our home state because we don’t have access to Spanish-language media in the state of South Dakota,” Zamorano-Ochoa said. . “It gets a little difficult for them. Then they might get scared because they realize it’s a very important decision they have to make.”

To translate the ballots, Islam enlisted the help of native speakers in the community. Tutush Dagnachew Woldemariam is a social worker and native Amharic speaker. He frequently translates the documents of Voices for Peace magazine. Woldemariam said the ballot paper is the largest work he has translated so far.

“For those of us whose original or native language is other than English and who are not proficient in English, this makes it easier to understand what is at stake, what is being said, and what is being decided,” Woldemariam said. “Having the ability to understand and make decisions based on knowing enough to make a confident decision.”

This is the second election in which Voices for Peace has provided translated ballots to voters. This year, with financial help from the Community Catalyst Foundation, the organization will be able to send 25,000 Spanish sample ballots to Spanish-speaking households. Islam noted that most were sent to homes in Minnehaha and Yankton County.

Voices for Peace selected four languages ​​(Spanish, Arabic, Nepali, and Amharic) based on the languages ​​spoken in the Sioux Falls School District. According to a 2022 demographic report2,632 students spoke a language other than English. Spanish-speaking students make up the majority of this number, with 1,738 people. When the report was prepared, there were 196 Amharic and 215 Nepali speakers. Swahili and Kuanyama were also common languages.