Brooklyn, NY – Requiring Translation Of Voting Materials Into Russian Signed Into Law

Brooklyn, NY – Senator Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn), Chair of the Finance Committee, announced that Governor Paterson has signed into law a bill he introduced (S. 552) to require cities with a million or more people to translate all voting materials into Russian.

Sen. Kruger has long advocated for this passage of this measure and said it will have a “profound impact” on his constituency, which includes the largest population of Russian-speaking people outside the former Soviet Union.

Assemblyman William Colton sponsored the bill in the Assembly, where it also enjoyed support from Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny, the first Russian-American lawmaker in the state.

The Governor is scheduled to come to Brighton Beach for a ceremonial bill-signing (the details were still being finalized).

In introducing the legislation, Sen. Kruger noted that, “far too long, dozens of thousands of the Russian-American senior citizens of New York have been shut out of the voting process unfairly because of the language barrier.”

“Voting and registration materials are printed in many languages other than English, but Russian has long been ignored. These people aren’t voting because they aren’t registered and they aren’t registered because they can’t read the materials in English to do so,” he said.

Voting materials are already translated into Spanish, Chinese and Korean, according to Sen. Kruger. Yet according to 2006 U.S. Census figures, Russian is currently the third most widely spoken foreign language in New York City after Spanish and Chinese, with 198,969 households. Korean is the ninth most spoken language, with 75,175 households.

“If New York State wants to equally represent all of its citizens, it must pass this act to enfranchise another of its culturally diverse immigrant populations, like many that have come before it,” Sen. Kruger said. He said that New York City already provides recycling instructions in Russian.

“Our city has always prided itself on welcoming all who seek opportunity and refuge, and in evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of our population. This measure reflects a significant step forward in addressing the needs of our Russian-American residents,” Sen. Kruger said.

As the original sponsor of this historic legislation in the Assembly, I understood that voting represents one of the most sacred rights granted to all Americans,” said Assemblyman Colton. “With Brooklyn, NY – Senator Kruger’s strong leadership in the Senate and Governor Paterson’s signature, we have knocked down significant barriers that stood in the way between citizens and their democratic country. Together, we have paved the way for new Americans to become more engaged with democracy and assist them in making the most informed choice when they enter a voting booth.”

“As one of the hundreds of thousands of Russian-American New Yorkers, I praise Sen. Kruger for pursuing this legislation until it became reality,” Assemblyman Brook-Krasny said. “I commend him and all elected officials who worked as a team for breaking the wall of indifference toward the needs of Russian-Americans who were prevented from exercising their citizen’s rights due to the language barrier.”