In Indian Country, our votes impact our community resources, and whether elected officials respect Native people and Native rights. It is essential that people who speak our traditional languages have a say. That is why section 203 of the Voting Rights Act requires several voting areas or “jurisdictions” in Arizona to provide language assistance to speakers of traditional Native languages.
What is Required?
Language assistance must allow Native language speakers who are not comfortable speaking and reading in English to effectively participate in voting. Election officials cannot provide less information to Native language speaking voters than they provide to English-speaking voters.
Language Assistance Should Include:
- Translation of election information on websites
- Translation of voter guides and other written materials
- Translation of voter registration forms and ballots
- Language assistance by phone and at polling locations
Language Assistance is Required for Speakers of the Following Languages:
- Aleut
- Apache
- Choctaw
- Ho-Chunk
- Hopi
- Iñupiaq
- Navajo
- Nez Pierce
- Paiute
- Seminole
- Shoshone
- Ute
- Yup’ik
- Zuni
Reporting Violations
To help Native communities across the county enforce the rights of their members to language assistance, the remainder of this guide lists the voting areas or “jurisdictions” that are required to provide language assistance, by language. Language assistance must allow members of your community who are not comfortable using English to effectively participate in the election and cast an informed vote.
If you think your community’s right to language assistance has been violated, contact vote@narf.org. The list of jurisdictions that are required to provide language assistance is updated every five years. Jurisdictions with an asterisk (*) are on the 2022 list but were not on the 2016 list for the specified language.
Jurisdictions Required to Provide Language Assistance
Aleut
Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska*
Apache
Gila County, Arizona
Graham County, Arizona
Pinal County, Arizona
Choctaw
Attala County, Mississippi
Carroll County, Mississippi*
Jackson County, Mississippi
Jones County, Mississippi
Kemper County, Mississippi
Leake County, Mississippi
Neshoba County, Mississippi
Newton County, Mississippi
Noxubee County, Mississippi
Scott County, Mississippi
Winston County, Mississippi
Ho-Chunk
Houston County, Minnesota*
Adams town, Wisconsin*
Albion town, Wisconsin*
Bangor town, Wisconsin*
Birnamwood town, Wisconsin*
Black River Falls city, Wisconsin*
Brockway town, Wisconsin*
Byron town, Wisconsin*
Cranmoor town, Wisconsin*
Dellona town, Wisconsin*
Delton town, Wisconsin*
Dewhurst town, Wisconsin*
Eaton town, Wisconsin*
Elderon town, Wisconsin*
Ferryville village, Wisconsin*
Franzen town, Wisconsin*
Freeman town, Wisconsin*
Friendship village, Wisconsin*
Germania town, Wisconsin*
Germantown town, Wisconsin*
Greenfield town, Wisconsin*
Holland town, Wisconsin*
Komensky town, Wisconsin*
La Grange town, Wisconsin*
Lemonweir town, Wisconsin*
Loen town, Wisconsin*
Levis town, Wisconsin*
Lyndon town, Wisconsin*
Madison city, Wisconsin*
Manchester town, Wisconsin*
Mead town, Wisconsin*
Millston town, Wisconsin*
Oakdale town, Wisconsin*
Onalaska town, Wisconsin*
Port Edwards town, Wisconsin*
Preston town, Wisconsin*
Reid town, Wisconsin*
Seneca town, Wisconsin*
Seven Mile Creek town, Wisconsin*
Stark town, Wisconsin*
Sumpter town, Wisconsin*
Whitestown town, Wisconsin*
Wilson town, Wisconsin*
Wittenberg village, Wisconsin*
Wittenberg town, Wisconsin*
Hopi
Coconino County, Arizona*
Navajo County, Arizona*
Iupiaq
North Slope
Borough, Alaska
Northwest Arctic Borough, Alaska
Yukon-Koyukuk, Alaska
Navajo
Apache County, Arizona
Coconino County, Arizona
Navajo County, Arizona
Bernalillo County, New Mexico
Cibola County, New Mexico
McKinley County, New Mexico
Rio Arriba County, New Mexico
Sandoval County, New Mexico
San Juan County, New Mexico
Socorro County, New Mexico
San Juan County, Utah
Nez Perce
Clearwater County, Idaho*
Idaho County, Idaho*
Lewis County, Idaho*
Nez Perce County, Idaho*
Paiute
Coconino County, Arizona*
Mohave County, Arizona*
Seminole
Glades County, Florida*
Shoshone
Nye County, Nevada*
Ute
La Plata County, Colorado
Montezuma County, Colorado
San Juan County, New Mexico
San Juan County, Utah
Yup’ik
Aleutians East Borough, Alaska
Bethel Census Area, Alaska
Bristol Bay Borough, Alaska
Dillingham Census Area, Alaska
Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska
Kodiak Island Borough, Alaska
Kusilvak Census Area, Alaska*
Lake and Peninsula Borough, Alaska
Nome Census Area, Alaska
Zuni
Apache County, Arizona*
Catron County, New Mexico*
Cibola County, New Mexico*
McKinley County, New Mexico*
Resource Materials
Native Language Section 203 Guide
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