On Tuesday, the NYC BOE announced that 60 Queens pollsites will have election materials in Bengali. And should the use of lever machines be authorized, the ballot strips will also be printed in Bengali.
Following the 2010 census, the USDOJ determined that certain Queens nabes qualified under Section 203/VRA for language assistance.
This move by the BOE proves the VRA was not gutted as civil rights “Pollyannas” have claimed since SCOTUS invalidated Section 4’s pre-clearance formula (which didn’t cover Queens). Section 203 (covering language rights) and other voting rights protections embedded in the VRA remain in place.
