HispanicBusiness

Four decades after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, ballot-box discrimination is still a reality faced by minority elected officials and leaders, according to a study released Monday by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, or NALEO.

In the study, "I Was Asked If I Was a Citizen: Latino Elected Officials Speak out on the Voting Rights Act," more than half of the 190 respondents in 24 states said they personally had experienced discrimination while running for or even holding public office.

"The Latino community is proud of the progress we have made toward achieving full political participation and representation in the last three decades," Rosalind Gold, senior director of Policy, Research and Advocacy at NALEO Educational Fund, said is a statement. "However, it is clear from our study's findings that our nation still has more work to do. For 40 years, the Voting Rights Act has been a powerful tool to combat many of the problems our community still confronts. To sustain future Latino political progress, it is critical that the president and the Department of Justice must vigorously enforce the act."

The reported discrimination ranged from a perceived double standard in how campaign laws were enforced, with a greater onus falling on those campaigning for Hispanic candidates, to outright threats or intimidation. For example, one respondent said that Hispanic voters were told they had to post a yard sign for a non-Hispanic candidate because the sign had a police insignia on it.

The respondents also reported more subtle discrimination, such as slates of candidates that don't include Latino candidates or racial or ethnic appeals meant to exclude the Hispanic candidate.

The study, conducted by Dr. James Thomas Tucker of Arizona State University, also reported that more than half the respondents had seen or experienced discrimination against voters themselves. Those charges fly to the heart of the Voting Right Act, which specifically forbids discrimination against voters and allows federal monitors to be placed in locales where discrimination has occurred in the past.

That discrimination might include problems with voter assistance, challenging the rights of someone to vote, require checking in at the polling place, removing polling places in some neighborhoods or even the composition of who works at the polls. About one in four respondents reported seeing problems in these areas.

One reported, "Election officials purposely turn(ed) voters away by using delay tactics and rude behavior ... using derogatory language to intimidate and chase away voters."

More than four out of five respondents said they see a need for more Spanish-language assistance, both in the written materials provided and at polling places.

To read the entire report, visit www.naleo.org/downloads/NALEO_VRA_Report.pdf.