Language barrier in the voting booth
By Matthew Wolfe
02/01/2008
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Advocates claim non-English reading immigrants are at a disadvantage in the voting booth.


Advocates claim non-English reading immigrants are at a disadvantage in the voting booth.
As Brooklyn prepares to go to the polls for the February 5 presidential primaries, a large segment of the borough’s citizens face a high hurdle: They don’t read English.

Many non-English reading immigrants, advocates say, are kept from casting their ballot because materials printed in their native language are unavailable.

In Brooklyn, official materials explain the process for registering and voting are available only in English, Spanish and Chinese. Yet, immigrant advocates say, this leaves out the great swathes of fully naturalized citizens that populate the borough’s many ethnic enclaves, including the Polish Community of Greenpoint, the West Indians of Flatbush, and Russian population of Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach and Bensonhurst.

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“A lot of immigrant communities aren’t as politically engaged as they might be,â€