AUDIO: CN2Go: Voter Edition: An inside look into how election materials are translated

by Adnan Alam
  • Slug: CN2Go.
  • Runtime: 6:18.
  • Downloadable audio here. (Note: Some web browsers may not support media download)

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THIS IS YOUR CRONKITE NEWS 2GO.

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I’M ( go to story )

TODAY ON THE SHOW WE’RE TAKING A DEPARTURE FROM OUR USUAL BRIEFING TO BRING YOU AN IN-DEPTH LISTEN ON AN ASPECT OF THIS YEAR’S MID-TERM ELECTION. AND THAT IS TRANSLATING ELECTION MATERIAL SO THOSE WHO’S FIRST LANGUAGE ISN’T ENGLISH, CAN VOTE. THIS IS REQUIRED BY LAW UNDER THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT WHICH REQUIRES ELECTION MATERIAL TO BE TRANSLATED IF MORE THAN 10-THOUSAND VOTERS AREN’T PROFICIENT IN ENGLISH.

FOR THE HOPI (hoe-pee) NATION, THIS HAS LED TO A MAJOR EFFORT TO MAKE VOTING ACCESSIBLE IN HOPI.

CRONKITE NEWS’ AUTRIYA MANESHNI TAKES US TO THE HOPI NATION ELECTION OFFICE WHERE ELECTION INFORMATION IS BEING TRANSLATED AHEAD OF THE MID-TERMS.
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MAXINE WADSWORTH SPENDS HER DAYS TRANSLATING ELECTION MATERIAL INTO THE HOPI LANGUAGE.

“Hopi is a language of emotion, and storytelling is a big part of our culture.”

WADSWORTH IS A TRANSLATOR FOR NAVAJO COUNTY ELECTIONS. SHE SAYS IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY TO TRANSLATE FROM ENGLISH TO HOPI BECAUSE CERTAIN ENGLISH WORDS DON’T EXIST IN THE HOPI LANGUAGE.

“The challenge is that Hopi is not a written language. So it makes it very challenging when you’re asked to interpret a document, which generally has no place in Hopi language at all.”

IT’S HARD TO TRANSLATE SPECIFIC GOVERNMENT ROLES.

*NAT POP MAXINE ON TAPE: I had to really think about this one, the corporation commissioner*

IN HOPI, CORPORATION COMMISSIONER, ISN’T A SIMPLE TWO WORD TRANSLATION. WADSWORTH STARTED TO THINK ABOUT WHAT A CORPORATION COMMISSIONER DOES.

*NAT POP THEN DUCKING DOWN UNDER MY TRACK: I know that they deal with electricity possibly phone lines, water, Anything that’s under the surface oil, minerals, those types of things*

WADSWORTH TOOK ALL OF THIS INFORMATION AND TRANSLATED IT TO HOPI.
*NAT POP OF HER EXPLAINING THE POSITION AND WHAT EACH WORD MEANS THEN DUCKING UNDER TRACK*

TELLING THE VOTERS WHAT THE CORPORATION COMMISSIONER DOES HELPS THEM UNDERSTAND THEIR ROLE BETTER.

WADSWORTH’S TRANSLATIONS TAKE ANYWHERE FROM A COUPLE HOURS TO DAYS OR WEEKS. ONE PROPOSITION SHE EXPLAINS IS FILLED WITH DIFFICULT ENGLISH WORDS THAT DON’T TRANSLATE TO HOPI.

Maxine: Well, I was horrified by this one.
Me It’s long, yeah!
Maxine: my God. Okay, third party ballot. How am I going to say that?

HOPI ISN’T WADSWORTH’S FIRST LANGUAGE.

 

SHE LEARNED ENGLISH FIRST AND PICKED UP HOPI FROM HER GRANDPARENTS.

EVERYTHING THAT WADSWORTH TRANSLATES *NAT POP HOPI SPEAKING* IS REVIEWED BY THE TRIBAL REGISTRAR AND THE HOPI ELECTION BOARD. WADSWORTH SAYS IT’S REWARDING WHEN HER TRANSLATIONS ARE ACCURATE.

“I did get a comment from one of the board members who said, I can’t believe you did it all, that’s amazing and I am a fluent hopi speaker.”

 

THE HOPI NATION ELECTION OFFICE IS LOCATED IN A MOBILE HOME ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF NORTHERN ARIZONA. THERE’S A SMALL BALLOT DROP OFF BOX FOR NAVAJO COUNTY OUTSIDE. INSIDE, THERE ARE DESKS, OFFICES, AND A CONFERENCE ROOM.

KAREN SHUPLA, THE HOPI NATION TRIBAL REGISTRAR SAYS THE OFFICE GETS BUSY WHEN ELECTION SEASON IS IN FULL FORCE.

“The traffic for elections are nonstop. That goes for both the state and the tribal election. So it’s very busy.”

SHUPLA SAYS ELECTION TERMS AREN’T COMMON IN THE HOPI LANGUAGE. SO TRANSLATING ELECTION INFORMATION WILL HELP BRING MORE VOTERS TO THE POLLS.

“It would help the elders because of the language portion, the new language, the election language, you know, what is being proposed, and also with the new voters, the new upcoming 18 year old voters. They’re all excited, ready to vote, registered and ready to go to the polls, but what are they voting on?”

THREE OUT OF 22 NATIVE NATIONS IN THE STATE HAVE THE OPTION TO VOTE IN THEIR INDEGINOUS LANGUAGE. PRIOR TO ELECTIONS, THE TOHONO O’ODHAM (Toe-Ho-no Oh-o-tum) NATION USED TO OFFER ORAL TRANSLATIONS FOR ELECTION MATERIAL. VERLON JOSE, A MEMBER OF THE TOHONO O’ODHAM NATION REMEMBERS HOW BENEFICIAL THAT WAS.

“They were burnt to CDs, and they were given out and put place that public location so people could pick one up and take it home and play it for grandpa or grandma or whatever.”

JOSE SAYS THE TRANSLATIONS AREN’T OFFERED ANYMORE. BUT HE BELIEVES THEY WOULD HELP VOTERS MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS WITHOUT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT A LANGUAGE BARRIER. WADSWORTH AGREES.

“ I think it’s a critical part of anything, any legal document, any choices that you make. And it’s much more so with elections.”

WADSWORTH WANTS TO MAKE THE ELECTORAL PROCESS A MEMORABLE STORY FOR HOPI NATION VOTERS TO TELL.

“Hopi people, when we travel, we tell stories about our travels. So this kind of is in line with that because you’re experiencing something new for the first time. This is your experience and it’s a story to be, I went over and I voted and the machine spoke Hopi to me.”

IN THE HOPI NATION *HOPI LANGUAGE POP* AUTRIYA MANESHNI, CRONKITE NEWS.

HOST OUTRO :

IN ARIZONA, ALASKA AND NEW MEXICO, MORE THAN 30-THOUSAND PEOPLE OF VOTING AGE SPEAK AN UNWRITTEN LANGUAGE, ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY SURVEY ACCESS DATA. THE MIDTERM ELECTION TAKES PLACE NOVEMBER 8TH.

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THANKS TO AUTRIYA MANESHNI FOR THAT STORY AND THANKS TO ATHENA ANKRAH FOR PRODUCING OUR SHOW.

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YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT CN2GO AND FIND A RANGE OF STORIES BY CHECKING OUT CRONKITENEWS-DOT-AZPBS-DOT-ORG.

THAT’S ALL FOR YOUR CRONKITE NEWS 2 GO. I’M .

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