On July 26, 2002, when the Director of the Census announced of which jurisdictions were covered under Section 203 based on the 2000 Census, the Civil Rights Division mailed formal notice and detailed information on the compliance to each of the 296 covered jurisdictions across the United States.
On August 31, 2004, Assistant Attorney General R. Alexander Acosta mailed letters to over 400 Section 203 and 4(f)(4) jurisdictions reminding them of their obligations to provide minority language assistance, and offering guidance on how to achieve compliance.
Assistant Attorney General Acosta noted the usefulness to local officials of establishing charts of all election information provided in English, and matching each item with what it does in each covered minority language; and setting up a similar chart matching the current number of language minority voters in each precinct with the number of bilingual poll officials. Both charts indicate possible gaps in compliance at a glance.
The 2004 mailing to the Section 4(f)(4) counties was the first blanket mailing to these counties, which include tens of thousands of voters who require Spanish language materials and information in order to vote effectively, since shortly after the original designations in 1975.
In addition to guidelines, brochures, and correspondence, the Division has held meetings with state and local election officials and minority community members in scores of covered jurisdictions to explain the law, answer questions, and work to foster the implementation of effective programs. Division personnel also made presentations and answered questions at numerous conferences of state and local election officials and non-governmental organizations. Such outreach is an important part of the Division's law enforcement effort. Any request for a Division speaker should take the form of a letter to the Assistant Attorney General.
The Voting Section has been systematically requesting voter registration lists and bilingual poll official assignment data from all covered jurisdictions, beginning with the largest in terms of population. Using lists of Spanish, Vietnamese, and other surnames, the Voting Section is able to identify polling places that appear to have large numbers of language minority voters and ascertain at a glance whether these polling places are served by a sufficient number of bilingual poll officials.
The Section also is systematically looking at the full range of information provided by covered jurisdictions to voters in English - not just the ballot and election pamphlets themselves, but also newspaper notices required by state law, website information, and other election information - and determining whether the same information is being made available to each language minority community and whether the translated materials are actually provided in polling places and made available to voters.
The Voting Section monitors elections as needed to determine whether local programs are being implemented effectively, and whether language minority citizens are being treated with the courtesy due to all voters.
Although the United States actively works with covered jurisdictions to obtain compliance, it has, when necessary, filed litigation and sought judicial enforcement.