SPOKANE, Wash. — Having your voice heard is a big reason why people vote in elections. But what if the voice telling you how to vote is not in your first language?
Mujeres in Action (MIA) created election ads that showcase voting resources and information for the area’s Spanish speaking population.
“What better way to let them know that their voice matters than to tell them in their native language?” said MIA’s interim executive director Ana Trusty.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 14,000 people in Spokane County speak Spanish at home. With the television advertisements, MIA hopes to reach those Spanish speaking homes.
“It is super important that even if you have just 10 people who spoke a different language, you would still want them to be a part of the process,” said Jacky Garcia, community organizer at MIA.
Garcia said she realized having access to voting resources in Spanish was important after noticing everything else in the United States that is not available in Spanish.
“Not being able to have your Miranda Rights in your language or going through writing a protection order and not having it in your language, all of these are instances that showed us there is that barrier,” Garcia said.
Those barriers are why Trusty says voting is extremely important.
“As we were witnessing these barriers, we were noticing the electors have the power to make systems more available to our community,” Trusty said. “That’s why we got involved in voting.”
Trusty encourages everyone, no matter the language you speak, to get out and vote.
Along with the advertisements, MIA also translated a Spokane County voter pamphlet to Spanish. You can find that voter pamphlet and other resources here.
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