FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — As the Nov. 5 election draws near, voters in Northwest Arkansas are having to overcome some language barriers.
In Arkansas, polling sites are only required to print ballots in English. This stems from a federal law that only requires the multi-language ballots to be printed if more than 5% or 10,000 voting-age people do not speak English.
One community organizer, Irvin Camacho, has been educating communities and helping people find their voices for over 14 years. Comacho says this is just another obstacle that minority communities have to face.
“For the past few years, I’ve worked on registering people to vote. So, we’ve done that by going to people’s houses and registering people, or also just holding events in our community and to educate people on what the voting process looks like,” said Camacho.
For people like Camacho, the barriers to voting can seen firsthand.
“Every year there’s an election, I go with my stepfather to go vote. I take him with me, and he doesn’t speak much English, so I have to explain to him everything. We walk to the computer together to vote, and I feel like if I wasn’t there, I don’t think he would do it. He wouldn’t feel comfortable going by himself and he’s told me that several times,” said Camacho.