Lynn to debut bilingual ballot

LYNN – City Clerk Mary Audley said bilingual ballots making their debut in next Tuesday’s final municipal election will save the city money and reduce polling place communication problems.Audley said poll workers in past elections, in particular the 2008 presidential election, received numerous questions from Spanish voters seeking clarifications on ballot language. Since 2004, the city has hired at least a half dozen translators and based them in polling places where a large number of Spanish speakers vote.The ballot – “boleto oficial” – matches “mayor” with “alcalde” and “asambleista” with “councillor.””This is our decision to make it easier for the voters of Lynn,” Audley said. “There have been issues where there is a heavy Spanish population with difficulty explaining.” Providing a ballot written in English and Spanish for local voters is a first for the city.Audley said printing a bilingual ballot is not an added expense for the city and said Spanish speaking students will be assigned to polling places where Spanish speakers vote to assist poll workers in answering questions next Tuesday.Over 49,000 residents are registered to vote in the final election. Audley said the number is the largest registration she has seen in nearly a decade. School Committee member Maria Carrasco estimates 6,000 of those registered voters are Spanish speaking residents. Audley could not confirm that number Tuesday.Carrasco said the bilingual ballot will lower election day language barriers.”Many people know the names of people running but not the positions they are running for,” Carrasco said.Six Massachusetts cities print Spanish language ballots under a federal mandate requiring separate language ballots in communities where 5 percent or more of the voting age population speaks a single language other than English. The communities are Boston, Chelsea, Holyoke, Springfield, Lawrence and Southbridge.Click here for complete Lynnelection coverage, candidate profiles and more. You may also comment on theelection and read what others have to say.