To: Governor Gavin Newsom
Tell Gov. Brown to make Democracy accessible to all Californians
Californians speaks more than 200 languages, but initiative petitions are only available in one! Over 6 million Californians who do not read or speak English well, including over half of our naturalized citizens who are eligible to vote, have no say in what gets on the ballot. I urge you to sign Senate Bill 1233, which would make initiative petitions available in multiple languages, so that voters who speak a different language can have a voice.
Why is this important?
The ballot initiative process is an important way Californians can improve their communities by making or changing state laws when the legislature is unable to do what is needed. But today, millions of California voters have no say in what gets on the ballot.
Senate Bill 1233 would make initiative petitions available in multiple languages so that voters who speak a different language can have a voice. Our voter guides are already available in multiple languages; it is only fair that initiative petitions should be too. It would cost the state less than one penny per person to include these voters in the democratic process.
In a state as diverse as California, providing initiative petitions in English-only means that voters who don’t read English well are left out of the democratic process, and that voters can be given misleading information about a petition and they have no way to verify the petition language. They could be tricked into signing something they don’t understand. This hurts all of us.
Our ballot initiative system should work for all of us, not just some.
Senate Bill 1233 would make initiative petitions available in multiple languages so that voters who speak a different language can have a voice. Our voter guides are already available in multiple languages; it is only fair that initiative petitions should be too. It would cost the state less than one penny per person to include these voters in the democratic process.
In a state as diverse as California, providing initiative petitions in English-only means that voters who don’t read English well are left out of the democratic process, and that voters can be given misleading information about a petition and they have no way to verify the petition language. They could be tricked into signing something they don’t understand. This hurts all of us.
Our ballot initiative system should work for all of us, not just some.