PHILADELPHIA — Citizens for Language Access, a coalition of local civil rights and immigrant-led groups, is urging Philadelphia Mayor James F. Kenney to allocate funding to the Philadelphia City Commissioners to create voting materials in more languages.
In a letter sent today to Mayor Kenney, the coalition urges him to include an additional $500,000 in his proposed budget to the city commissioners’ office to expand language access beyond Spanish and Chinese, the only two non-English languages currently mandated by law.
“Now is the time to ensure that complete and accurate information reaches as many voters as possible, including the tens of thousands who are limited English proficient. We need to invest our limited resources to achieve equity and increase access for those who face barriers. We also recognize that our democracy is being tested and the foundation of it, voting, is especially vulnerable,” the letter reads.
The full letter can be found here.
Citizens for Language Access is a Philadelphia-based coalition of local civil rights and immigrant-led organizations working to achieve full access and engagement for citizens whose first language is not English. It consists of the following groups:
ACLU-PA
AFRICOM
All Voting is Local
Asian Americans United
Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania
Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA)
CAIR-Philadelphia
Ceiba
Committee of Seventy
Fair Elections Center
Keystone Votes
PCDC
PICC
SEAMAAC
United Voices
VietLead
Woori Center